Col. Lorna Mahlock has been nominated to become the first female African American Brigadier General for the United States Marine Corps. She is a graduate of Marquette University, the US Army War College and Naval Postgraduate School. At the age of 49 she has already served over 30 years of service and has contributed to the ensured safety of hundreds of her fellow marines with air tactical support as a company commander, operations officer and commanding officer. Mahlock enlisted in the marine corps in 1985, following which she was commissioned as an air traffic control officer in 1991. Col. Mahlock provided deployment support in Iraq three times with Marine Tactical Air Command Squadron 38, first as a company commander from November 2002 to May 2003, after which she was promoted to operations officer when she served her on her second tour from February 2004 to May 2004. Her last tour started January 2008 and concluded a year afterwards; during this tour Mahlock served as a commanding officer. Over her 33 years in the united states military Col. Mahlock has received thirteen medals and the sea service deployment weapon.

The marine corps is the smallest of the four military services and has the lowest percentage of female members. According to marine corps community services, woman make up only 8% of the Marine Corps total personnel. Col. Mahlock if sworn in will be just one of 100 women in the U.S. Marine Corps that holds a position once unavailable to her gender. Mahlock previously was stationed in Okinawa, Japan, where she was charged with overseeing 1,300 military and civilian and $250 million in military equipment in support of U.S. interests in the Asia-Pacific region. Prior to Mahlock there had never been a female African American general in the marine corps however, the first African American general to serve in marine corps history was marine aviator Frank E. Petersen Jr. He was chosen as a second lieutenant in October 1952 after completing flight training. Twenty-seven years later in 1979, he was promoted to brigadier general, according to marine corps university. Col. Mahlock’s next assignment will be later announced if she is confirmed by the senate, but while her processing continues, she will continue to inspire those who never thought possible obtaining general position as an African American woman.

Source:

http://www.businessinsider.com/lorna-mahlock-marine-corps-first-black-woman-general-2018-4https://www.iiimef.marines.mil/News/News-Article-Display/Article/705814/female-marines-discuss-womens-history-month/

Transportation is the heart of every individual’s daily life, whether you are commuting to and from work or traveling on vacation. As years pass we are becoming more and more efficient in the way we transport ourselves from one place to another. In the 1800’s we were using horses to go from place to place. A century later we had developed the steam engine and were using trains along with many other vehicles. What the future has in store for us is startling for some but, exciting for others. In the past the hurdle has been getting airplanes to be able to have vertical take off and landings which we are moving closer and closer to with each passing day through the innovation of aircraft design.

Flying cars use to be a fascinating idea however, recently this has begun materializing. Close to 15 startups have begun putting significant amounts of money into the idea along with several large corporations such as Airbus, Boeing and Toyota. Not only is the U.S. a flag bearer in leading the effort but, there are also several companies based out of Europe involved in the effort. Large investors are also showing interest in revolutionizing the emergency healthcare industry and also the delivery business. This innovative technology will also address the population growth concerns and issues with traffic.  Overall, flying cars are something we could see as soon as 10-15 years. In the near future it will also become a major investment opportunity as some have already began taking advantage of the opportunity. An old quote, “necessity is the mother of invention” is apt for this situation as the World Health Organization expects “7 out of 10 people to be living in cities by 2050”. This means that cities will have to rethink their transportation systems and flying cars is something they will definitely have on their radar. The most exciting thing regarding this development is that today we are talking about advancements in transportation, tomorrow we could be talking about other technological advancement in society.

Another great development in the transportation industry is the introduction of connected vehicles. Connected technology is based on wireless communication and is like an ecosystem within its self. It pairs the vehicles with all of its surroundings which include infrastructure, vehicles, pedestrians. The introduction of this technology really puts an emphasis and highlights the importance of safety, it alerts the driver of the vehicle of his surroundings and informs the driver of dangerous situations. Soon this technology will be implemented in road work areas and intersections that are notorious for accidents which will serve as a preventive measure. The most exciting thing about this development is that the technology is ready and now its just a matter of implementing it. Very similar to the flying cars the connected vehicles are faced with the hurdle of government intervention, when the government gets on board this is a technology that will change the way modern day transportation is thought of.

The final exciting development in transportation industry is the spread of electric vehicles. Electric vehicles have been around for a while now however, they haven’t made leaps into people’s daily lives until now. Electric vehicles are something we will get use to seeing more often now. This initiative is beneficial both environmentally and economically.  The use of clean energy in the form of electric vehicles addresses climate change concerns and provides a renewable source of energy whereas, it also provides an investment opportunity for people interested in emerging technologies. The state of Oregon is recently one of the biggest players in U.S., Oregon recently introduced an electric highway which gives access to charging stations along the highway. Oregon is also pushing private businesses to include stations as well so it becomes a more viable option for residents. With states like Oregon pushing this initiative we will begin to see more and more electric vehicles on our roads.

In summary, the future of transportation looks very bright. Three bright innovative ideas will be able to change the way people commute on a daily basis. The advent of flying cars will free us from traffic jams and make the commute much smoother. Connected technology is another step that will make travelling much safer for everyone. Through the use of wireless technology drivers will have access to pretty much everything around them and know how much of a threat they are. Finally, an energy source that has been around for a while is becoming more and more accessible to everyone. Highways are now being filled with charging stations. In a few years we can expect as a society for these technologies to take over and be integrated into society fully.

 

Sources:

money.cnn.com/gallery/technology/2018/05/15/transportation-technologies/index.html

techcrunch.com/2017/11/08/are-flying-cars-the-future-of-transportation-or-an-inflated-expectation

www.questsolution.com/blog/item/57-how-technology-is-changing-the-transportation-and-logistics-industry

 

Memorial Day marks not only the beginning of summer but also a solemn day of remembrance for all veterans who have died serving in the American armed force. The holiday was originally known as Decoration Day and started after the civil war to honor the union and confederate dead. On the first Decoration Day, General James Garfield gave a speech in Arlington National Cemetery to over 5,000 participants; they decorated the graves of the 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers buried there. It is unclear where exactly this tradition originated; numerous different communities may have independently initiated the memorial gatherings. Nevertheless, in 1966 the federal government declared Waterloo, New York, the official birthplace of Memorial Day. Waterloo, which first celebrated the day on May 5, 1866, was chosen because it hosted an annual, community-wide event, during which businesses closed and residents decorated the graves of soldiers with flowers and flags.

The event in Charleston that also may have precipitated the holiday offers poignant evidence of a country struggling to rebuild itself after a bloody war and were buried in unmarked graves, and the town’s black residents organized a May Day ceremony in which they landscaped a burial ground to properly honor the soldiers. In the years following the war, celebrations were sparse and few, the north and the south celebrating in distinctly different ways. Memorial Day gained its name and national identity in 1967, decades after the civil war However, it wasn’t until a year later, 1968, that congress passed the uniform holiday act cementing Memorial Days place in the calendar, making it the last Monday in May rather than May 30. Authenticating Memorial Day when the change finally went into effect in 1971. Now a days we celebrate Memorial Day on the beach or in a lawn chair, but its history comes from a much deeper, profound meaningful celebration.

Source:

https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/memorial-day-history/pictures/memorial-day/birthplace-of-memorial-day

http://time.com/3892630/why-do-we-celebrate-memorial-day/

Artificial intelligence has made it easy and perspective for companies to survive and excel in international competition by keeping up with the latest technology. AI refers to the social science of making computers work like how humans do. With the use of AI, a number of areas in the digital marketing industry have advanced and have continued to excel further. Natural language processing is a branch of AI that enables computer programs to comprehend, process and formulate the responses to human language in the same way it is spoken. With the increasing use of machine learning, natural language processing technologies are being used for multiple work like data examination and improvement in human-computer interaction.

Using AI for multiple business processes can actually lead the business to another level in terms of goals achievement. It has helped in the improvement of developing a deep understanding of marketing and helping brands to increase customer service quality. AI systems constantly work in the background of the products and services like Netflix, Amazon, Google. Companies run a pay-per-click campaign as a marketing strategy for their business and employees work for that. However, human efforts for the same can be minimized by using AI system. AI can also help to discover advertising channels that may not be used by the competitor company.

We all know that we can create rule sets and formats for profit and loss summaries, quarterly business reports, stock market reports and such others. By inclusion of AI system. A company can design a narration or summary in real time. One can set up writing styles and formats for the same. Hence, those summaries can be personalized as per your business need.

Another interesting benefit of using AI system is for sending emails. Emails are an important part of day to day work for marketing in all kinds of businesses and one needs to send a personalized email for every customer according to their interests to maintain a good relationship with them. With the use of AI system, one can send personalized emails based on the business requirements. The system basically maps the previous website interactions, time spent by subscribers on one page, subscriber’s wish list, interactions with different kind of visitors. In a way, it helps to send a curated email to every single customer by analyzing customer’s reading patterns. This is a huge time and energy saving benefit by using AI tool to get information about each customer rather than doing it manually.

Artificial intelligence powered tools can also help to gather a large volume of data, build a predictive model, test and validate the model. This kind of a tool can be very much useful for predicting large volumes, for example, stock market data. Analytical summary based on AP powered tool can be used to make business decisions profitably.

If you have recently used google photos, you may have noticed that Google search engine recognizes people and images in a fraction of time. From a marketer’s standpoint, image recognition means a better connection of online content and store visits. Many stores use facial recognition software to trace customers and their visits. This can be helpful to make an analysis of customer’s number of visits and their buying preferences. We can say that AI-powered tools enable marketers to improve customer relationships in a great way.

Source: https://sigilbrand.com/blog/ai-now-how-companies-are-using-ai-in-marketing/