I will be attending the World Technology Summit & Awards in New York in two-and-a-half weeks, July 21st & 22nd. This is the second annual invitation-only event held by the organization.

I was very surprised to be invited and I must admit that I am a bit in awe of the 2000 & 2001 award winners and nominees. It will certainly be an honor to be present in the same room with many of them.

The invitation has affected things around here. To think that my work has generated the interest of a person or persons in such an elite group is heartening. Few of their names are known by any of my immediate circle, but many of my personal heroes are among them. I'm warily optimistic that a "turning point" is in the offing.

The World Technology Summit & The World Technology Awards.

Favorites: GPS/ Dead Reckoning/ Wayne Newberry *
Malcom Gladwell * John Allen Paulos * John Robb's The New Economy -II * Wired's New Economy Myth * Michael Moore * Probability Without Tears * John F. Simon Jr.'s Every Icon * Law of Diminishing Returns * Patently Absurd * Sir Arthur C. Clarke * W. Daniel Hillis * Claude E. Shannon -2 * The New York Times * The Buckminster Fuller Institute * Chautauqua * LuLu Press * Dan Bricklin * William Dunk

Often a new technology is viewed as a complete replacement for older technologies. Rather than throwing the old ways into the proverbial trash heap, perhaps some consideration might be given to creating a hybrid technology. Taking the best attributes of the old and new together could create some possibly overlooked synergies.

GPS, the Global Positioning System, is one such new technology. One of the older technologies that GPS displaced is Dead Reckoning, a term that "originated with maritime navigation and refers to 'reckoning or reasoning (one's position) relative to something stationary or dead in the water.'"

Dead Reckoning's weaknesses include inaccuracies attributed to the difficulty of measuring speed, distance and direction from such a stationary object. Any errors can multiply rapidly and cause large errors in the assessment of location.

GPS's weaknesses include signal reception and signal inaccuracies. If only radio signals are used, the quality and availability of the signals can introduce errors that also compromise the assessment of location.

A few experts like Wayne Newberry are acknowledging that GPS and Dead Reckoning may be complementary technologies. User-defined stationary points and dead reckoning with accuracy guided by available GPS signals seems to me a better way to show us the way home.

Favorites: Malcom Gladwell * John Allen Paulos * John Robb's The New Economy -II * Wired's New Economy Myth * Michael Moore * Probability Without Tears * John F. Simon Jr.'s Every Icon * Law of Diminishing Returns * Patently Absurd * Sir Arthur C. Clarke * W. Daniel Hillis * Claude E. Shannon -2 * The New York Times * The Buckminster Fuller Institute * Chautauqua * LuLu Press * Dan Bricklin * William Dunk

John Allen Poulos and Malcolm Gladwell are two of my favorite writers. Both of them are attempting to bridge the gap in the general public's understanding of the principles of mathematics.

"Bulletin! An exhaustive Wall Street study has revealed that 62.381527% of all statistics are made up on the spot." This humorous opening of the home page of John Allen Paulos, Professor of Mathematics at Temple University and Adjunct Professor of Journalism at Columbia University, says much about the man. I discovered his work through his first-of-the-month column "Who's Counting?" on the ABC News website. His book, "A Mathematician Reads The Newspaper," will forever change anyone's view of the so-called "news."

Malcom Gladwell came to my attention with the runaway success of his book "The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference." This influential book is simultaneously sobering and encouraging. That alone would be enough for any writer to achieve, but add to that the fact that he does it over and over again in his columns in the New Yorker magazine. Check out his article "Java Man: How caffeine created the modern world," for a taste of how his research and ideas lead to a new understanding.

I'm hopeful that these two writers are planting the seeds for a quiet new mathematics revolution.

Favorites: John Robb's The New Economy -II * Wired's New Economy Myth * Michael Moore * Probability Without Tears * John F. Simon Jr.'s Every Icon * Law of Diminishing Returns * Patently Absurd * Sir Arthur C. Clarke * W. Daniel Hillis * Claude E. Shannon -2 * The New York Times * The Buckminster Fuller Institute * Chautauqua * LuLu Press * Dan Bricklin * William Dunk