Andrew Rivkin is Among the Top 15 Canadians in Digital Media

Synonymous with the Canadian tech industry are Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis, the brains behind Research in Motion (RIM). Beyond this, Canadians have made huge contributions in the fields of gaming, software, Internet security, Web development, social media and online broadcasting. Backbone, one of Canada’s largest and most successful business magazines, recently published an article highlighting the top 15 Canadians in digital media. Andrew Rivkin was among the fifteen selected.

The list includes Stewart Butterfield, the creator of Flickr one of the world’s most popular websites; Cassie Creighton, the five-year old Torontonian who along with her father created the hit online game Sissy’s Magical Ponycorn Adventure; and Sid Meier of Sarnia, Ontario who is considered to be the father of computer gaming. Meier developed some of the first flight and military simulation games.

         

Andrew Rivkin is among the top 15 for his pioneer vision in the online gambling industry with Cryptologic in the mid-1990’s. Cryptologic, which was founded in his parents’ Toronto basement along with his brother Mark, provided the underlying software for many prominent gambling Websites. Later, Rivkin co-founded FUN Technologies from Toronto with Lorne Abony, launching highly popular prize-based and casual games.

 

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Andrew Rivkin is Looking Forward to the Pearson-Union Rail-Link

Call it a long time coming; Andrew Rivkin along with the millions who fly in and out of Toronto Pearson International Airport is excited about the recent announcement. This past week, the Ontario provincial government promised to begin construction in coming spring on a rail-link. The link will connect Pearson Airport with Toronto’s Union Station. The goal of the project is to have the air-rail link completed by the 2015 Pan Am Games to be hosted in Toronto. With most metropolitans around the world having rail-links between the main international airport and the downtown core it is about time that Toronto gets one.

Being a Toronto entrepreneur, Andrew Rivkin appreciates Premier Dalton McGuinty’s speech earlier this week. In the announcement, Mr. McGuinty said that the rail-link will make the “Greater Toronto Area a more attractive place to work, to visit and to invest”. The air-rail link will only stretch three kilometers, but it will connect to the much larger Go Transit system to provide service to Union Station in downtown Toronto.

With increasing traffic congestion, the rail-link will help to alleviate some of the congestion along with providing arriving passengers the fastest “transfer” to and from the downtown core. Andrew Rivkin notes that with the implementation of the air-rail link, travelers into and out of Pearson International will be able to get to and from downtown Toronto in 25 minutes (each way). Compared to traffic congestion on Highway 401, the busiest highway in North America, Rivkin believes that many travelers will take advantage of the new service. An early estimate is that the air-rail link will ease congestion by taking 1.2 million vehicle trips off the road annually.

Some other large metropolitan areas that have air-rail links include London with the “Tube”, Hong Kong with the “Airport Express” and New York (JFK) with the AirTran.

Even though the additional construction needed is only a three-kilometer stretch, the benefit is immense!

 

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Andrew Rivkin Discusses the Bankruptcy of American Airlines

Andrew Rivkin saw this headline coming miles away. With most of the major North American airlines having gone through bankruptcy in the past decade it was only time before American Airlines faced the same challenge. American maintained a steady-course while its competitors such as United Airlines and Delta Airlines went through bankruptcy, restructuring and mergers. Andrew Rivkin notes that through all of the restructuring of U.S. airlines, American Airlines went from being the largest to third largest behind the newly formed Delta Airlines and Continental Airlines. American’s loss of market-share came from the merger between Delta Airlines and Northwest Airlines as well as the merger between Continental Airlines and United Airlines.

Before Tuesday’s filing, American, Jetblue and Southwest were the only major U.S. airlines that had not filed for bankruptcy reorganization. Based on the low-cost model of Jetblue and Southwest, Andrew Rivkin believes that these two airlines will avoid the necessity for filing for Chapter 11 protection. While the stocks of both of these no-frills airlines have lost some value in the past year, it is nothing compared to the hit that American Airlines stock has taken.

Since 2007, American has only reported a profit in one quarter and has lost close to $5 billion over the past three years. Andrew Rivkin points to the modernization of the airlines fleet over the next few years as a key part of its restructuring plan. American’s current fleet includes close to 250 MD-80 airplanes that haven’t been manufactured since 1999 and are considered to be serious gas-guzzlers. With fuel costs accounting for a significant portion of airlines overall costs, American’s fleet modernization will surely help the airline in its plans to once again becoming a profitable corporation.

Check out the full article: American Airlines Files for Bankruptcy on CNN.com

Dining with Andrew Rivkin: The Standard Grill

• Name:  The Standard Grill
• Address: 848 Washington St., NYC 10014
• Website: http://thestandardgrill.com/
• Reviewer: Andrew Rivkin

I recently tried the sushi at Nikko Japanese Restaurant and Sushi Bar in Charlotte, North Carolina. Known to be 0ne of Charlotte’s most popular sushi destinations, I thought I’d give it a try.  Friendly service, complimentary starter soup, salad, amuse bouche and dessert were nice touches to one of the best valued sushi places I’ve been too. Charlotte is just not the best city to be eating sushi in, as it is land locked and therefore doesn’t receive alot of fresh fish regularly. Atmosphere was pretty cool and they had complimentary Valet parking.

Conclusion: Good bistro food; poor service.  I gave The Standard Grill 3.5 stars.

From The Standard Grill Website:

At The Standard Grill, Chef Dan produces a menu that emphasizes market fresh ingredients that refine and update classic dishes.

Dining with Andrew Rivkin: Kaijou Japanese Cuisine and Bar

• Name: Kaijou Japanese Cuisine & Bar
• Address:  21 South End Avenue, New York, NY 10280
• Website: www.kaijounewyork.com/
• Reviewer: Andrew Rivkin

 

 

I recently had lunch at Kaijou Japanese Cuisine and Bar while in New York City.  Boasting to be a restaurant that is dedicated to the art of modern Japenese cuisine, fusing old world classics with new world ideas, I was exited to dine here. Unfortunately, the view from my table was about the nicest part of my experience. The food may have been pretty, but spotty service and lack of attention to detail took away from the rather ordinary Japanese cuisine I ate.

Conclusion: Not overly impressed; I gave Kaijou Japanese Cuisine and Bar 1.5 stars.

Yours Truly, Andrew Rivkin.

From Kaijou Cuisine and Bar:

With so many themed restaurants competing for your patronage, it is quite difficult to decide whether one is good or not. Instead, Kaijou concentrates on food preparation and lets its delicious “works of art” be the theme. There are no gimmicks to entice you to come to the restaurant, but just give Kaijou one try and you’ll be instantly hooked!