Rhode Island Soft Systems

Last updated

Rhode Island Soft Systems (also known as R.I. Soft Systems and RISS) was an American software development and new media company based in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. The company was best known for developing screensavers, computer games and programming tools for Microsoft Windows.

Contents

Early history

Rhode Island Soft Systems was founded in 1990 by Eric Robichaud. Originally conceived as a side venture to Robichaud’s full-time work as a computer programmer with CVS Caremark Corporation, Robichaud’s first product was a DOS screensaver called BLANK-IT. Additional products were created, and by 1994 Robichaud left CVS to start his own company. [1] [2]

Among the first Rhode Island Soft Systems products to gain wide attention was a 1994 signature font product that enabled computer users to incorporate their signature word processing documents. [3] The company also created a digital jigsaw puzzle game called Jixxa, and received commissions to create screensavers and interactive CD-ROMs to promote Folgers Coffee, the New York Knicks and Harley Davidson motorcycles. [1] [4]

Product lines

During the late 1990s, the company created a series of whimsical screensavers that poked fun at popular culture figures and trends. Among its most notable titles were Hey, Macaroni!, which used animated dancing noodles to spoof the Macarena craze, and Liverdance, which parodied Michael Flatley’s Lord of the Dance success with a troupe of anthropomorphic livers performing Irish stepdancing. Liverdance, released in 1998, was also the first screensaver that incorporated built-in multiple advertisements, with Hasbro Interactive, Prodigy, Barnes & Noble, Symantec and WinZip as the first advertisers. [5]

Beyond its consumer products, the company created programming tools including Image Carousel Professional Edition and Ovation Studio Pro. [6] [7]

Company expansion and sale

In 1999, the company acquired Mediaweave, a Providence, Rhode Island–based company that produced multimedia projects and Web sites. By 2000, Rhode Island Soft Systems grew to US$1 million in annual sales. [1] [8]

In 2003, Rhode Island Soft Systems was sold to Freeze.com, a Waite Park, Minnesota–based screensaver development company. The transaction included a five-year development and sponsorship contract that highlighted the Rhode Island Soft Systems products on the Freeze.com web site. [9]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woonsocket, Rhode Island</span> City in Rhode Island, United States

Woonsocket, is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 43,240 at the 2020 census, making it the sixth largest city in the state. Being Rhode Island's northernmost city, Woonsocket lies directly south of the Massachusetts state line and constitutes part of both the Providence metropolitan area and the larger Greater Boston Combined Statistical Area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lincoln Almond</span> American attorney and politician (1936–2023)

Lincoln Carter Almond was an American attorney and politician who served as the 72nd Governor of Rhode Island from 1995 to 2003. A member of the Republican Party, he was previously the United States Attorney for the District of Rhode Island from 1969 to 1978 and again from 1981 until 1993.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhode Island Route 99</span> State highway in Providence County, Rhode Island, US

Route 99, also known as the Woonsocket Industrial Highway, is a 2.9-mile-long (4.7 km) freeway in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. Route 99 serves Manville and the Highland Industrial Park, providing freeway access to the city of Woonsocket from Rhode Island Route 146, which bypasses the city. The southern terminus of Route 99 is at a partial interchange with Route 146 in Lincoln. The freeway has one interchange in Manville, a village in Lincoln, before terminating at an at-grade intersection with Rhode Island Route 122 in Woonsocket.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence</span> Latin Catholic ecclesiastical jurisdiction in Rhode Island, USA

The Diocese of Providence is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in Rhode Island in the United States. The diocese was erected by Pope Pius IX on February 17, 1872.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Community College of Rhode Island</span> Public community college in Rhode Island, US

The Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI) is a public community college in Rhode Island. It is the only community college in the state and the largest community college in New England. The college's primary facility is located in Warwick, with additional college buildings throughout the state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Clark Corrente</span>

Robert Clark Corrente was the United States Attorney for the state of Rhode Island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Providence metropolitan area</span> Metropolitan Statistical Area in the United States

The Providence metropolitan area is a region extending into eight counties in two states. Its core is in the states of Rhode Island and Massachusetts; its largest city is Providence, Rhode Island. With an estimated population of 1,622,520, exceeding that of Rhode Island by slightly over 60%, the Providence MSA is the 38th largest metropolitan area in the United States. The MSA covers all of Rhode Island and Bristol County, Massachusetts, with an average population density of 2300 per mi2.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Register of Historic Places listings in Providence County, Rhode Island</span>

This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Providence County, Rhode Island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woonsocket Rubber Company Mill</span> United States historic place

Woonsocket Rubber Company Mill is an historic mill at 60-82 Main Street in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. The mill consists of a series of 3- and 4-story brick buildings built between 1865 and 1875 by Edward Harris, one of Woonsocket's leading businessmen. These buildings housed the Woonsocket Rubbert Company, one of Rhode Island's first manufacturer of rubber products, principally shoes, boots, and rubberized fabric. In 1910 the complex was purchased by the Falls Yarn Company, which used it for the production of fine woolen yarns.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woonsocket Company Mill Complex</span> United States historic place

The Woonsocket Company Mill Complex is a historic district encompassing one of the largest mill complexes in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. The district includes all of the buildings historically associated with the Woonsocket Company, a major manufacturer of cotton textiles in the 19th century. The complex is located along the eastern bank of the Blackstone River between Court and Bernon Streets. It includes three handsome stone mills, built between 1827 and 1859, and a power plant that was built on the site of the former #3 mill between 1890 and 1920, as well as the remnants of the canal that originally carried water to the buildings for power.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Ann's Church Complex (Woonsocket, Rhode Island)</span> Historic church in Rhode Island, United States

St. Ann's Church Complex is now a historic cultural center in Woonsocket, Rhode Island on Cumberland Street. It was formerly a Roman Catholic church within the Diocese of Providence.

Rhode Island Mayoral Academies (RIMA) are publicly funded charter schools in the state of Rhode Island that have been freed from some of the rules, regulations, and statutes that apply to other charter schools in order to better attract nonprofit charter management organizations with a track record of success. The legislation creating mayoral academies was championed by a coalition of community and business leaders led by Cumberland, RI Mayor Daniel McKee and passed into law as part of the 2009 Rhode Island state budget, which was approved on June 17, 2008.

Kenneth J. Block is an American businessman, software engineer, and political reformer. He is the founder of the Moderate Party of Rhode Island, the state's third-largest political party, and ran as the Moderate candidate for Governor of Rhode Island in the 2010 election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woonsocket station</span> Former railroad station in Woonsocket, Rhode Island

Woonsocket station is a former railroad station located at Depot Square in downtown Woonsocket, Rhode Island. It was built by the Providence and Worcester Railroad in 1882 to replace a previous station built in 1847.

Umberto "Bert" Crenca is an American artist, arts administrator, arts advisor and educator. He is known for being a founder and long-time artistic director of the non-profit arts organization, AS220, in Providence, Rhode Island. He has been credited with helping to "lay the groundwork for much of the cultural development that shaped the Providence imaginary in the 1990s and early decades of the 21st century" by scholar Micah Salkind, and in 2010 was identified as one of Rhode Island's Most Influential People by Rhode Island Monthly.

The Miss Rhode Island's Teen competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the U.S. state of Rhode Island in the Miss America's Teen pageant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Electric Railways</span> Streetcar operator in Providence, Rhode Island, US (1919-1966)

The United Electric Railways Company (UER) was the Providence-based operator of the system of interurban streetcars, trolleybuses, and trolley freight in the state of Rhode Island in the early- to mid-twentieth century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Rhode Island gubernatorial election</span>

The 2022 Rhode Island gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 2022, to elect the governor of Rhode Island. Incumbent Democratic Governor Dan McKee became Rhode Island's governor on March 2, 2021, when term-limited Gina Raimondo resigned following her confirmation as United States Secretary of Commerce. McKee easily won a full term on election day, defeating Republican Ashley Kalus by more than 19 percentage points.

Lisa Baldelli-Hunt is an American politician and former Mayor of Woonsocket, Rhode Island.

Susan Menard was an American politician who served as the 31st mayor of Woonsocket, Rhode Island, from 1995 to 2009. She was the first female mayor and longest serving mayor in Woonsocket history.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Zachery Block & Kathleen Yanity (December 7, 2000). "Woonsocket, R.I., Software, New Media Firm Grows Into a $1-Million Company". Providence Journal. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
  2. ↑ "Shareware Hall of Fame". Shareware Industry Awards. Archived from the original on 2008-11-19. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
  3. ↑ "High-Tech John Hancocks". Business Week. December 26, 1994. Archived from the original on July 28, 2012. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
  4. ↑ Larry Blasko (August 6, 2001). "Computer Game Is a Jigsaw Puzzle". Associated Press. Archived from the original on October 25, 2012. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
  5. ↑ Michel Marriott (May 14, 1998). "Jiggling Livers, and Advertising, in a Lively Screen Saver". The New York Times . Retrieved 2009-06-01.
  6. ↑ "Tool Creates Professional Screensavers". Computer Dealer News. January 28, 2000. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
  7. ↑ "RISS Releases Next Version of Ovation". ENT. February 3, 1999. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
  8. ↑ "Business Briefs Column". Providence Journal. August 18, 1999. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
  9. ↑ "Well-known Screensaver Site Sold". Newswit.com. August 15, 2003. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.