Category Archives: Technology

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Technology has been touching almost every industry nowadaysfinancial services, food production, transportation, telecommunication, agriculture, and many more. Real estate is no exception. Its now more convenient for home buyers and sellers to find what they need to secure a property or sell one. Heres how technology has been transforming real estate businesses everywhere.

Its not just printed ads in newspapers and magazines anymore. You can find dedicated websites for properties on sale. If youre looking for a home or a place of business to lease, you can easily find online listings of available properties.

With real estate listings, you dont even have to browse the inventory one-by-one. All you need is to use the filter feature to look for the square footage, the number of floors, rooms, amenities, and your preferred location. The listings will also include landmarks and how close the properties are at specific vital points such as hospitals, schools, police stations, fire stations, supermarkets, and more. Some will also include a virtual map of the propertys location.

With all the information already available online, all thats left to do is contact the seller. Simultaneously, by creating an online listing, the seller can eliminate reiteration of all the property information with a client.

Selling your property sometimes doesnt come easy for lack of interested buyers. You could also have a property facing foreclosure, needing minor and major repairs, code violations, orbankruptcy. When youre under these situations, there is an urgency for money, and thats where home buying companies can help you.

These companies scout properties in specific locations to buy properties. You can also call the company to visit your property, where, after observations, will make you an offer depending on the current state of your home. Its also why it is essential to research the best home buyers in your area to be sure that you can find a legit home buying company. These home buying companies are using the internet to market their services so that sellers can easily find them.

Showcases are standard for buyers who want to see the property first. But for those who cannot make it, sellers, brokers, or agents can use companies that offer real estate virtual tours. It is an innovative way to separate you from other property sellers, still using the old way of showcasing the interior, exterior, and specifications of a home. In some cases, prospective buyers can view the same property at its pre-construction stage.

Virtual reality tours also eliminate the need for agents to be present. The virtual solution allows a 360-degree view of the property. It gives the potential buyer a preview before booking an onsite viewing. That way, the buyer knows what to expect and would be more interested in taking a closer look at the home.

Technology is not solely for the buying and selling of properties. More importantly, it is improving the way construction companies are building structures and add-ons that make a smart and innovative home. This type of development is alternately called green or sustainable construction. It is a technology-based solution that aims to build environmentally-friendly properties using durable, cost-effective, and safer materials for the health of future tenants. The technology includes the following:

Homeowners and commercial property owners can benefit from financial technology. Construction projects and mortgage loans are not possible without alternative financing sources such as what online financial platforms can offer. Compared to banks, the documents they need as not as strict. Fintech solutions are not only a good source of capital, but they also have a quicker processing duration in response to the online applications that borrowers send in. There are fintech platforms that make it easier to start construction projects by providing loans to buy supplies and leasing heavy machinery. Such fintech platforms offer financial help to do a business project a reality.

Various businesses are taking to social media and for a good reason. People are spending more and more time on their profiles. When companies are taking advantage of Facebooks Business Manager, they advertise products and services as users scroll down their newsfeeds. The real estate business is no exception. Any company can create a business or community page where they can showcase what they have to offer. People can join these pages or community groups to read about the latest updates or news. It engages potential customers to provide their opinions or asks questions. Both real estate companies and brokers can utilize the power of social media anytime as it is a cost-effective way to advertise.

Some transactions dont need to be face-to-face. Online solutions such as e-signing can allow users to upload documents and draw their signatures onto the designated spaces. E-signing services let you upload different formats of documents. Some platforms will allow you to sign a document in multiple ways. You can draw your signature, scan or upload your signature to paste onto the documents or type your name using the text feature. A technology-based solution that is secure and legally-binding simplifies administrative tasks and provides convenience to the employee or customer.

Technology covers much of the real estate industry drafting, financing, construction, and marketing. There are many solutions today that offer convenience to both property sellers and buyers. These solutions are cost-effective and offer both parties the chance to connect at a level that was impossible decades ago. Not only is it making it easier to do business, but it also allows you and your brand to build relationships with the masses.

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Is Technology Changing The Real Estate Industry? - BOSS Magazine

Tomas Pribanic has found a way to apply ion thrust to autonomous aerial vehicles in Earths atmosphere, creating a silent propulsion system and paving the way for the greater application of drones in the cargo delivery industry.

Call it his Kitty Hawk moment. His Spirit of St. Louis special.

If all goes well at a makeshift airfield in Hialeah early next month, Tomas Pribanic will write a new chapter in aviationand, perhaps, entrepreneurial history.

Thats when the University of Miami College of Engineering Ph.D. student will test his invention of a new pilotless aircraft powered by ion propulsion.

In the Star Trek episode Spocks Brain, chief engineer Montgomery Scott gazed in awe at an ion-powered alien spacecraft on an intercept course with the Enterprise, describing the ship as a beauty and saying he had never seen anything like it.

But in reality, ion propulsion isnt solely the stuff of science fiction. An advanced form of power that uses electricity to accelerate ions and produce small but long-lasting thrust, it is the preferred method of power for engineers who use it to keep satellites in their proper orientation and to propel deep-space probes farther and faster than any other form of thrust.

The technologys one glaring disadvantage, however, is that it works best only in the vacuum of space, free from Earths powerful gravitational pull.

Pribanic, who started building and flying model airplanes when he was 12, says he has found a way to overcome that obstacle. After months of extensive research, he has applied ionic thrust to drones on Earth, allowing the autonomous vehicles to operate in the atmosphere just as efficientlyand silentlyas they would if they flew in outer space.

The Ph.D. student will test his five-square-foot, ion-powered prototype at Amelia Earhart Park in March, putting the vehicle through its paces in outdoor conditions after months of indoor vertical takeoffs and landings at the Doral-based Undefined Technologies lab he founded and now leads.

An electric propulsion expert who has worked for some of the largest aerospace companies in the nation, Pribanic said his Air Tantrum technology could transform the field of transportation. The prototype is light weight, produces zero carbon emissions, and the technology is adaptable, he said. But the biggest gamechanger is that it generates silent propulsion.

And that, he said, should help spur increased usage of drones, which are notorious for producing loud, high-pitched noiseas high as 96 decibels, according to Pribanic. He noted a recent NASA study that found that the buzzing sound produced by drones is more annoying to humans than noises generated by cars and trucks, even when the noises are at the same volume.

His technology is projected to generate noise below 70 decibels, which would fall under the threshold established by a number of municipal noise ordinances.

Certain corporations are already looking at ways to use unmanned vehicles to improve their operations. Major retailers like Walmart and Amazon and package carriers such as FedEx and UPS have begun experimenting with drones, said Harihara Prasad Natarajan, an associate professor of management at the Miami Herbert Business School. They are exploring the possibility of using drones for a variety of supplychain activities including counting physical inventory, moving packages within the warehouse, and even for last-mile deliveries, especially in remote, inaccessible areas.

With a new start-up, Pribanic plans to commercialize his technology and incorporate it into the existing drone market focusing on urban cargo, delivering everything from online shopping packages and groceries to vital medicines and COVID-19 test kits.He enters a thriving industry, as the global drone market will grow from

$22.5 billion in 2020 to more than $42 billion in 2025, according to the Drone Market Report 2020.

Pribanic has been mentored by College of Engineering materials scientist Xiangyang Zhou, and has worked with Bob Williamson, entrepreneur in residence at the Universitys Office of Technology Transfer, to patent and market his new technology.

Tomas took a known technology and modified it to become a practical, yet quiet way to provide lift. We shouldnt be surprised if he fundamentally changes the drone industry, Williamson said.

The aerospace engineering students venture into ion propulsion almost didnt happen. I was experimenting with other forms of thrust before and hadnt really done much research in ionic thrust because it wasnt viable for atmospheric conditions on Earth, Pribanic said. But I realized that achieving ion propulsion in our atmospheric was a big challenge. I saw the tremendous potential it offered. Now, were in the final stages of achieving a lofty goal.

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Engineering student's technology could revolutionize the use of drones - University of Miami - University of Miami

Younger entrepreneurs have a lot in common, the experts say.

They dont fear technology. They have fewer obligations, so they can take risks. And, like all entrepreneurs, they are driven by an idea.

Karen Bowling, the inaugural director of the University of North Florida Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, said startup founders under the age of 30 can offset their lack of life experience and a professional network with a solid business plan and fire in the gut.

Many of them know no fear, and theyre at a point in their life where they can take risks, Bowling said.

The Jacksonville Daily Record and the Jacksonville Record & Observer profiled four area entrepreneurs under the age of 30 who started and run their companies.

They all say they started their ventures by identifying a need and setting out to fill it.

Karen Bowling, the inaugural director of the University of North Florida Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

Bowling has worked with a handful of 20-somethings since the UNF center launched its program in 2019.

She said startup founders under 30 have a strength less aversion to taking chances.

They may not have as many obligations yet, so there are some advantages.

The UNF center is a business incubator for early-stage startups and provides business counseling, mentoring and professional services with subject matter experts.

Jim Stallings, CEO at investment and entrepreneurial resource firm PS27 Ventures LLC, says young entrepreneurs have an advantage with innovation because theyre not intimidated by using technology and data.

Bowling said the UNF center doesnt keep data on the age of its entrepreneurs and is open to startup founders across the age spectrum.

We made a decision from the very beginning not to even ask what somebodys age is because were looking for the best ideas, Bowling said.

Theres no age discrimination when it comes to that.

There are numbers that show entrepreneurs age 30 and under are below the typical age of business founders.

A 2018 joint study from MIT, Northwestern University, the National Bureau of Economic Research and the U.S. Census Bureau on age and high-growth entrepreneurship found that overall U.S. startup founders from 2007-14 were 39 to 40 years old.

The median age for the fastest growing new ventures in the U.S. is 45 years old.

Younger entrepreneurs also face challenges.

U.S. Census Bureau-backed research found that 53.2% of high-growth startups with founders under the age of 30 failed compared with 45.6% with founders older than 30.

Bowling said regardless of age, barriers for most entrepreneurs are the same.

Its a process, right? Whats your idea? Who are your customers? How are you going to get that first customer? How are you going to price that service or product? And those ideas dont care if youre 12 or 50, really.

Jim Stallings, CEO of investment and entrepreneurial resource firm PS27 Ventures, says the biggest barrier for entrepreneurs is understanding the market for their product or solution.

Stallings said access to capital and investment should not be considered the biggest barrier for young founders, but challenges come when their company is ready to grow.

He tells entrepreneurs working with PS27 their biggest barrier is understanding the market for their product or solution.

They have a good product (or) solution, he said. But they need to figure out who is the customer and how do I sell it?

Stallings, a former general manager of global markets at IBM, founded PS27 in 2012. The firm is an early-stage investor in startup companies with a fully formed product or service.

In 2020, PS27 invested $2 million in cash and services in five companies after analyzing 600 deals and proposals.

The five startups were split between Tampa, Orlando and one in Northeast Florida, according to the firm.

Stalling said PS27 is expecting its biggest investment year to date in 2021 and expects to analyze 940 deals. He said PS27 likely will invest in 2% of those proposals.

Stallings said the generation of people age 30 and younger has a different outlook on employment, which he thinks is leading to more entrepreneurship.

Most of my generation grew up thinking were going to work in a corporation or the company for 30 years, retire and get a watch, he said.

This generation thats coming along, their starting point is some form of self-employment. They may start out on a big company, but I think (entrepreneurship) is a thought in the back of their mind.

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Ideas, technology and a fire in the gut fuel young entrepreneurs - Jacksonville Daily Record

With an array of keynote speeches and roundtable discussions, the forum academically explored the art of light and shadow covering topics of empowering future cities, boosting night economy, and back-feeding cities' soft power. Participants of these online and offline discussions included Wang Zhi'ou (Chief Curator of GLOW SHENZHEN 2020), Qiu Zhijie (Dean of School of Experimental Art, Central Academy of Fine Arts), Cai Xinyuan (Associate Dean of School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Huazhong University of Science and Technology), Liu Jun (General Manager of Strategic Market Center of Unilumin), teams of artists such as Radugadesign from Russia and ENESS from Australia, as well as experts of light technology and related industries. In one of the roundtable discussions themed "exploring the influence of light art on city life and public space in the future", Wen Bin,Director of IDG ASIA Accelerator, Qin Xiu, Founder of Aura Project, and other representatives shared enlightening insights from different walks of life. The discussion was hosted by Professor Zhang Yuxing from School of Architecture & Urban Planning, Shenzhen University.

In the forum, the Urban Administration and Law Enforcement Bureau of Shenzhen Municipality and IDG ASIA signed a five-year framework agreement, with the aim to build GLOW SHENZHEN into a world-renowned brand of city light art exhibition.

Wen Bin, Director of IDG ASIA Accelerator, expressed his hope that this forum, as an industry-academia-research platform for the development of tech-based art, can help Shenzhen lead the world in scientific and technological innovation and play an exemplary role in the integration of "technology + art" for the world. IDG ASIA also wishes to make full use of its resources in technology, investment, convention& exhibition, industry& research, media, culture& tourism to support GLOW SHENZHEN 2020.

"The brightness of lighting in a region at night is proportionate to the GDP of that region." A healthy business environment can unleash the potential of night consumption to promote a city's economic growth. This forum received strategic support form Shenzhen International Investment & Promotion Association (SZIIPA), a non-profit organization initiated by the Shenzhen Investment Holdings Co., Ltd. and other institutions. Sticking to the forum's core topics such as technology industry, urban art and economic development, SZIIPA drew on all kinds of resources from enterprises that have invested in Shenzhen to support the building of industry-academia-research platforms, to connect global investment resources, and to consistently promote Shenzhen's business environment and its image.

SOURCE Shenzhen International Investment & Promotion Association (SZIIPA)

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Technology and Art of Light in the Spotlight: Artists from around the World Gather at Shenzhen International Light Art Forum - PRNewswire

FILE PHOTO: The logo of Chevron Corp is seen in its booth at Gastech, the world's biggest expo for the gas industry, in Chiba, Japan April 4, 2017. REUTERS/Toru Hanai

(Reuters) - Chevron Corp on Thursday said it had launched a $300 million fund focused on low-carbon technology, as traditional global oil and gas firms attempt to invest more in green energy and tackle climate change.

Major energy firms have set targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or are exploring investments in renewable energy and green technology amid rising pressure from investors and activists.

Earlier this month, top U.S. oil producer Exxon Mobil Corp unveiled a carbon-removal technology venture that would directly compete with Occidental Petroleum Corps efforts to develop the largest ever facility to pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.

Chevron Technology Ventures, the venture capital division of the company, launched the first Future Energy Fund in 2018 and has invested in more than 10 companies in the field that focus on carbon capture and energy storage.

Last month, Chevron invested in Blue Planet Systems Corp, a startup commercializing a technology that makes a substitute for limestone in concrete and building materials from carbon dioxide.

The oil major in October also formed a joint venture to market dairy biomethane, a renewable natural gas made of methane emissions from cattle burps as part of its push to reduce emissions.

Reporting by Rithika Krishna in Bengaluru; Editing by Ramakrishnan M.

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Chevron launches $300 million fund to focus on low-carbon technology - Reuters

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) today announced that it is building a new supercomputer for KTH Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm, one of Swedens largest technical universities dedicated to science and engineering research. The new supercomputer, which is funded by Swedish National Infrastructure for Computing (SNIC), will enable a significant level of computational performance, powered by the HPE Cray EX supercomputer, to improve modeling and simulation from complex data to make breakthroughs in academia and for a range of industrial areas, including drug design, renewable energy, and advanced automotive and fleet vehicles.

The new supercomputer, which KTH has named Dardel in honor of the Swedish novelist, Thora Dardel, and her first husband, Nils Dardel, the post-impressionist painter, will replace KTHs current flagship system, Beskow, and will be housed on KTHs main campus at the PDC Center for High Performance Computing.

Sweden gains new supercomputer to bolster R&D and unlock industrial innovation

SNICs new flagship system, Dardel, will be built using the HPE Cray EX supercomputer, which features an advanced high performance computing architecture designed for next-generation supercomputing, such as for exascale-class systems that are 10X faster than todays most powerful supercomputers.

The HPE Cray EX supercomputer will include HPE Slingshot for purpose-built HPC networking to address demands for higher speed and congestion control for data-intensive workloads. It will also feature next generation AMD EPYC processors and AMD Instinct GPU accelerators to improve efficiency and achieve the performance required to process and harness insights from computationally complex data.

With a theoretical peak performance of 13.5 petaflops1, Dardel will be significantly faster than the current flagship system at PDC. The advanced capabilities of the new system that HPE is delivering will help Swedish researchers tackle challenging research areas, including computational fluid dynamics, biophysics and quantum chemistry, that are used in R&D supporting Swedish companies across the manufacturing, automotive and transportation, medical, agriculture, oil and gas, aeronautical and space industries. Example companies using PDCs HPC systems for R&D include trucking manufacturer Scania and several technical consulting companies such as Sweco, Tyrns and FSDynamics.

High performance computing (HPC) technologies are broadly used in R&D to advance the technologies that go into the products and services we use each day. For decades, the PDC Center for High Performance Computing at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology has empowered a community of researchers to make breakthroughs across a range of industries using HPC, said Peter Ungaro, senior vice president and general manager, HPC and Mission Critical Solutions at HPE. We are honored to have been selected by the KTH Royal Institute of Technology to deliver the latest HPE Cray EX supercomputer with next-generation AMD technologies and provide an even greater level of performance to improve and expand Swedish academic research and drive innovation for Swedish industrial companies.

HPE to deliver KTHs Dardel in two phases

HPE will install the first phase of the supercomputer this summer. It will feature over 65,000 CPU cores and it be ready for research use in July 2021. The second phase of the installation will consist of GPUs which will be installed later this year and be ready for use in January 2022

About Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Hewlett Packard Enterprise is the global edge-to-cloud platform-as-a-service company that helps organizations accelerate outcomes by unlocking value from all of their data, everywhere. Built on decades of reimagining the future and innovating to advance the way we live and work, HPE delivers unique, open and intelligent technology solutions, with a consistent experience across all clouds and edges, to help customers develop new business models, engage in new ways, and increase operational performance. For more information, visit: http://www.hpe.com.

1) KTHs Dardel supercomputer will have a theoretical peak performance of 13.5 petaflops after the two phases of the system have been completed

AMD, the AMD Arrow logo, EPYC, Instinct, and combinations thereof are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.

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Sweden's KTH Royal Institute of Technology Selects Hewlett Packard Enterprise to Build New Supercomputer to Advance Academic and Industrial Research -...

This unusual options alert can help traders discover the next big trading opportunities. Traders will search for circumstances when the market estimation of an option diverges heavily from its normal worth. Unusual trading activity could push option prices to exaggerated or underestimated levels.

Below are some instances of unusual options activity happening in the Information Technology sector:

AAPL

CALL

TRADE

BULLISH

02/26/21

$124.00

$33.6K

18.8K

72.2K

NNDM

CALL

SWEEP

BEARISH

12/17/21

$30.00

$53.8K

9.5K

2.8K

AMD

CALL

TRADE

BULLISH

03/19/21

$85.00

$78.0K

13.9K

2.7K

ADBE

PUT

SWEEP

BEARISH

03/19/21

$410.00

$113.0K

1.4K

2.1K

RIOT

CALL

SWEEP

BEARISH

02/26/21

$47.00

$26.0K

616

2.0K

CSCO

CALL

TRADE

BEARISH

01/21/22

$47.50

$629.0K

13.1K

1.7K

CRM

CALL

TRADE

BULLISH

03/05/21

$225.00

$69.0K

256

1.0K

PYPL

CALL

SWEEP

BULLISH

02/26/21

$262.50

$28.4K

833

957

SQ

CALL

SWEEP

BEARISH

03/05/21

$237.50

$170.5K

407

610

ESTC

CALL

TRADE

BULLISH

05/21/21

$190.00

$81.0K

918

405

Explanation

These itemized elaborations have been created using the accompanying table.

For AAPL (NASDAQ:AAPL), we notice a call option trade that happens to be bullish, is expiring today. Parties traded 431 contract(s) at a $124.00 strike. The total cost received by the writing party (or parties) was $33.6K, with a price of $78.0 per contract. There were 18895 open contracts at this strike prior to today, and today 72287 contract(s) were bought and sold.

For NNDM (NASDAQ:NNDM), we notice a call option sweep that happens to be bearish, expiring in 294 day(s) on December 17, 2021. This event was a transfer of 332 contract(s) at a $30.00 strike. This particular call needed to be split into 16 different trades to become filled. The total cost received by the writing party (or parties) was $53.8K, with a price of $162.0 per contract. There were 9555 open contracts at this strike prior to today, and today 2867 contract(s) were bought and sold.

Story continues

For AMD (NASDAQ:AMD), we notice a call option trade that happens to be bullish, expiring in 21 day(s) on March 19, 2021. This event was a transfer of 200 contract(s) at a $85.00 strike. The total cost received by the writing party (or parties) was $78.0K, with a price of $390.0 per contract. There were 13911 open contracts at this strike prior to today, and today 2776 contract(s) were bought and sold.

Regarding ADBE (NASDAQ:ADBE), we observe a put option sweep with bearish sentiment. It expires in 21 day(s) on March 19, 2021. Parties traded 496 contract(s) at a $410.00 strike. This particular put needed to be split into 4 different trades to become filled. The total cost received by the writing party (or parties) was $113.0K, with a price of $228.0 per contract. There were 1414 open contracts at this strike prior to today, and today 2135 contract(s) were bought and sold.

For RIOT (NASDAQ:RIOT), we notice a call option sweep that happens to be bearish, is expiring today. Parties traded 200 contract(s) at a $47.00 strike. This particular call needed to be split into 5 different trades to become filled. The total cost received by the writing party (or parties) was $26.0K, with a price of $130.0 per contract. There were 616 open contracts at this strike prior to today, and today 2084 contract(s) were bought and sold.

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10 Information Technology Stocks With Unusual Options Alerts In Today's Session - Yahoo Finance

GAITHERSBURG, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dots and Bridges LLC -- a leading consulting firm that advises businesses on how to create connections with public, private and academic stakeholders that support, secure, and transform the Nations 16 critical infrastructure sectors -- has launched a YouTube channel.

Hosted by Dots and Bridges Founder/CEO and former Chief Technology Officer at the U.S. Department of Energy, Pete Tseronis, the company's channel features thought-provoking fireside chats with influential innovators in technology, infrastructure and society, while addressing the symbiotic relationship between the public and private sectors. Recent programs have featured interviews with Paula Gold-Williams, (CEO, CPS Energy), the Honorable Howard Dean (Fmr. Vermont Governor), Maria Roat (Deputy Federal Chief Information Officer, Office of Management and Budget), and Juan Torres (Associate Lab Director, National Renewable Energy Laboratory).

"Before launching Dots and Bridges over five years ago, I was fortunate to collaborate with many industry disruptors across government, academia and investor communities," said Tseronis. "Today, being able to highlight the passion, innovation, and leadership of these folks in 45 minutes of jargon-free dialogue is a real privilege."

Dots and Bridges plays a critical role in connecting public and private sector stakeholders to discuss the future of emerging tech, said Paul Smith, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Red Hat North American Public Sector. Petes YouTube channel will give us another opportunity to engage with trustworthy voices and credible experts in this space.

We are excited to see Pete making his voice heard in the government contracting and greater technology community, said Craig P. Abod, President of Carahsoft Technology Corp. Over the course of our partnership, Pete has demonstrated the breadth of his knowledge, and we look forward to being able to learn from his decades of experience through his new channel.

"From our virtual content, new website, and now YouTube channel, the goal of the Dots and Bridges' suite of services is to give clients and sponsors a platform to disseminate their message, and to drive awareness, interest and engagement to targeted constituents, Tseronis said.

Applying a unique complement of creative services, rooted in the discovery and fostering of trusted partnerships and intended to crystallize client value proposition, Dots and Bridges differentiates client brands and fortifies sustainable relationships. Dots and Bridges expanded communications and media practice includes a custom suite of professional services:

Pete excels at translating complex technology into understandable policy," said Morgan OBrien, Executive Chairman of the Board, Anterix. "And his personal authenticity shines through virtual media to grab audience attention and facilitate learning."

About Dots and Bridges LLC:

Dots and Bridges engages Public, Private, and Academic entities supporting the Nations 16 critical infrastructure sectors. Applying unique prospecting, cultivating, and positioning methodologies to fuel revenue, secure customers, and establish rapport, we convey how todays emerging technologies become tomorrows growth sectors.

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Dots and Bridges Launches New YouTube Channel to the Highlight the Technology, Humanity and Culture Intersection - Business Wire

WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE, Mo. --

A Tyrannosaurus Rex replica named Stan proudly stands in front of the Google Corporations headquarters in California. With his threatening gaze and gaping mouth provide a stark contrast to the rest of the campus. Google highlights the extinct apex predator as a sobering reminder that innovation is more than just a term - we must innovate or die.

The story, however, isnt entirely fair to the T.-Rex. The enthusiasm for innovation is omnipresent in both political and military leaders. Our society reveres entrepreneurs, lauds innovative companies and understands that evolution can lead to revolutionary change. There are reasons, however, not to be innovative especially when it comes to moral decisions between life and death. As military members authorized to use deadly force, we have to balance human decision-making and technological advances. This concept is well understood by both senior leaders and technology developers, and ensuring the success of our future conflicts depends on maximizing the capabilities between these two entities.

Lt. Col. John Karl Marks story, in a lot of ways, is parallel to Stans. However, he is far from extinct. Marks, an attack pilot with the 303rd Fighter Squadron, is just 100 hours shy of reaching 7,000 hours in the A-10 cockpit, securely holding the record for most hours in the aircraft of all time. He is a legendary figure in his own right; choosing, experimenting, and teaching the iterations of add-ons and changes the weapons system has received over the years. Marks began his career during the Cold War when the A-10 was focused on developing tactics to defend against Soviet tanks in Europe, and he just culminated his 13th combat deployment overall, this one his 6th to Afghanistan supporting troops on the ground for Operation Freedoms Sentinel.

One of his most memorable deployments was during Operation Desert Storm. On February 25, 1991at just 26 years oldthen-1st. Lt. Marks and flight lead, Capt. Eric Fish Solomonson flew a trio of missions over Kuwait and Iraq, destroying 23 Iraqi tanks, using infrared AGM-65 missiles and the infamous GAU-8 cannon. Mission planning 30-years ago consisted of paper maps and cardstock lineup cards. Flying was far less automated and correcting for dive angle and airspeed was a must. Direct hits were annotated with a grease pencil on the inside of the canopy and battle damage assessments were written on the walls of the debrief room upon return. One day, three missions, all ordnance expended a wildly successful day and campaign for these two attack pilots.

Compared to todays aircraft, the A-10 from 1991 seems primitive. Today, the engines are pretty much the same and the basic airframe hasnt changed much; internally, though, its completely upgraded. The targeting pod now integrates with helmet-mounted display allowing not only for flight data to be displayed but also the target, the cannon now has a stabilization system to hold it on target while firing, GPS avionics advancements have led to GPS-guided weapons system integration, and additional systems can now automatically detect and respond to incoming threats with countermeasures.

The system upgrades definitely simplify a pilots decision about life and death quicker and with increased certainty. The trade-off, however, is the result of a several-step process. The question is not whether technology or humans should make life-or-death choices, but instead, who is responsible for each step in the process. The Air Force invests significant resources to enable pilots to become proficient in their roles as decision makers focused on whose life to risk, when, and for what objective.

Marks leadership in the air is valued for his ability to adapt to new technology and tailor the aircrafts inputs appropriately. Studies show that unless these inputs are intuitive, commanders and troops alike will revert to simpler, combat tested tools which are inherently more comfortable. Marks, for example, is one of the few A-10 pilots who prefers to fly with binoculars in the cockpit. The targeting pod, while upgraded, lacks color and the binoculars provide an extra layer of reassurance and speed when identifying friend versus foe.

Some of the younger A-10 pilots may politely mock Marks for flying with binoculars, but his aura is infectious, his war stories second-to-none, and at the end of the day, they value his experience and they seek to emulate his tactics.

Karl is truly a legend. He is methodical and meticulous his experience comes with ease but never arrogance. We are grateful to have him in our wing and his continuous desire to learn, teach, and mentor the next generation of fighter pilots is not only humbling, but a true testament to the love of his craft said Col. Mike Angry Schultz, commander of the 442d Fighter Wing.

As he approaches 7,000 hours, Marks has experienced every upgrade in the aircraft, and acknowledged that his time in the cockpit is unfortunately coming to an end.

Being able to get out there and fly the A-10 keeps me coming to work every day. Its still challenging, its still awesome, and they keep bringing new technology and new ways of fighting which keeps it relevant. We may not be the fastest aircraft, but when we talk about the aircrafts abilities from a close air support platform we are simply still the best.

The technological advances the A-10 has seen over three decades are nothing short of impressive and its value to Combatant Commanders is unparalleled. Investing in new technology while developing a pilots tactics is paramount to maintaining our competitive edge. The A-10 is the number-one combat search and rescue platform in the world, and training opportunities to practice newer techniques like forward arming and refueling points and agile combat employment will keep the aircraft relevant in peer-to-peer conflicts. The most valuable weapon system, however, is the men and women that fly the airplanes. The steps taken now in accelerating and adapting to change remain the most important drivers in our nations future conflicts.

Unlike Stan, who couldnt possibly have adapted to stop the asteroid that wiped out his fellow dinosaurs, the U.S. Air Force as a whole, and the A-10 community specifically, will continue to accelerate change so well continue to be ready for the future fight.

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Desert Storm attack pilot integrates 30-years of tactics with new technology - Robins Rev Up

Lybra, developer of the Assistant - the most complete, machine learning, demand-centric revenue management system (RMS) - is proud to announce that the Pellicano Hotels Group, one of Italy's most fabled luxury hotel chain, has chosen to implement Lybra's Assistant RMS in all three of their luxurious properties: Hotel Il Pellicano in Tuscany; La Posta Vecchia Hotel in Palo Laziale, near the Thyrennian Sea; and Mezzatore Hotel & Thermal Spa in the isle of Ischia.

As the Pellicano Hotels Group is a company that prides itself on its commitment to quality, their decision to implement Lybra's Assistant RMS was a fitting one, as it is the only RMS that integrates future flight search data and destination research - both of which are an effective measure of travel intent - plus competitors' prices and events, into the solution's machine learning-based algorithm to provide the most accurate rates, even in today's uncertain market. Future demand data is integrated into the Assistant RMS through the brand-new module, Lybra EYE, the most advanced and accurate future demand monitoring system, currently in beta and available only to hotels in Italy - like Pellicano Hotels, who chose Lybra because of their innovation and commitment to developing the highest quality revenue management solutions.

"We have a great skill-set in our booking department, and we were looking for a revenue management tool that could support our agents in increasing room revenue and overall profitability - and we found it in Lybra's Assistant RMS," said Michele Sambaldi, Managing Director of the Pellicano Hotels Group. "I personally think that Lybra can be a great partner for hotels that want to introduce a more strategic, data-focused approach to revenue management."

"The Pellicano Hotels Group is one of the most iconic and well-recognized chains in Italy and Lybra is very proud to begin this collaboration," said Fulvio Giannetti, CEO & Head of Data Science at Lybra. "The road ahead is still uphill for hotels and, at Lybra, we feel the responsibility to do well and improve our solution after day to give hoteliers the best possible tools and opportunities to thrive, like our new Lybra EYE module. The Lybra EYE sets a new worldwide standard of excellence for the quality and breadth of hotel demand data, and we are delighted to be able to support such an important hotel group with such advanced technology."

Lybra's Assistant RMS and the new Lybra EYE module gives the Pellicano Hotels Group's revenue management team access to the most up-to-date, real-time future hotel demand data, by monitoring the search flow on their destinations, up to 365 days in advance; analyzing travel intention by nationality; monitoring competitors' pricing in real-time; and evaluate how events and local happenings are impacting the demand within each destination. This data can be used to develop revenue management and marketing strategies designed to capture the most hotel bookings possible, out of the limited number coming to their destinations.

Setting room rates based upon accurate forecast data is the best way for hotels to price their rooms competitively and, with the introduction of the new Lybra EYE module, the Assistant RMS is the only solution on the market that offers next-generation forecasting capabilities - now available to savvy, forward-thinking Italian hoteliers, like the Pellicano Hotel Group.

To learn more about Lybra's Assistant RMS, the new Lybra EYE module or the partnership with the Pellicano Hotel Group, please contact Jennifer Nagy at any time: [emailprotected] or +1.786.420.1160.

Pellicano Hotels manages three of Italy's most fabled hotels, where luxury is timeless yet understated. Hotel Il Pellicano is a five-star seaside hotel in Porto Ercole, offering 47 rooms and suites in a pristine Tuscan cove. La Posta Vecchia, prior home to Roman Imperators and Jean Paul Getty, is a 19 rooms and suites luxury hotel 30 minutes from Rome. The Mezzatorre Hotel & Thermal Spa is a 52 rooms and suites luxury hotel tucked into 7 hectares of Mediterranean scrub in Ischia. To learn more about the Pellicano Hotel Group, please visit http://www.pellicanohotels.com. For media inquiries, please contact Dona Daher at [emailprotected] and/or Elena Rognoni at [emailprotected].

About Lybra (Formerly Lybra.Tech)Lybra is a leading global hospitality technology company, offering an innovative, machine learning revenue management system (RMS) for the global hospitality industry. Lybra's Assistant RMS was designed to improve the quality of hoteliers' lives, by simplifying and automating daily operations to skyrocket their property's bookings and revenue - even in times of decreased demand, like the current COVID-19 pandemic.

In May 2020, Lybra was acquired by The Zucchetti Group, a leading international technology company offering software, hardware and ITC services to many global sectors, including hospitality, education, transport and logistics, manufacturing, among others. As part of The Zucchetti Group, Lybra is even more well-positioned to offer hotel clients the most accurate pricing suggestions because of the wealth of international market and demand data - compiled by the global hospitality technology companies that are owned by The Zucchetti Group - that is now integrated into the company's Assistant RMS. To learn more about Lybra, visit lybra.tech.

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The Pellicano Hotels Group Selects Lybra as a Preferred Technology Partner, Implementing Lybra's Assistant RMS in all 3 of Their Luxury Properties in...