Today was supposed to be a book review of
The Digital Rabbit Hole, but like all great plans, they can change. My friend Troy Pflum said this wasn't a book for him, and that's okay right? Not every book is a good fit for every body...just like not all of us can fit into a pair of skinny jeans (at least not right now).
I'd like to take this time to introduce you more intimately to Larry Kilham who is the author of
The Digital Rabbit Hole. I was introduced to Larry a few months ago by good friend Mari from Artotems. She encouraged me to read
The Juno Trilogy and I left my 5 star review on Amazon saying this:
This trilogy by Larry Kilham moves as a fast pace. I didn't feel that the book was overly predictable even though it was well described in the official book summary that I read prior to purchase. I rather enjoyed the concept of right versus wrong in the artificial intelligence world. The authors imagination comes through and after reading his biography, I couldn't help but want to know more about this intelligent man. I was pleased to see he has written many other books with some diverse content. The characters were not very deep and there wasn't much dialogue, but it was not necessary to keep me turning the pages. The dynamic relationship of computer and human was really interesting and I enjoyed each of these three books from cover to cover.
and now you've all read my review from
The Digital Rabbit Hole (or if you haven't, here's a link to it:
http://bringonlemons.blogspot.com/2017/07/5-star-review-of-larry-kilhans-digital.html ) but can you believe there's more stories behind this man? Check out this impressive list of books Larry has written:
Adventure Skiing in the '60s: Chile Argentina Lebanon and Morocco
This book will launch you into ski adventures in exotic far-away places. If you don’t do such adventure travel, you can at least share my adventures. While these took place back in the 1960s when overseas travel generally required greater effort than now, and there were fewer distractions ranging from electronic media to terrorism, the basics were the same. The mountains and glorious skiing are still there. If you are interested in visiting any of the places in this book, you should gain some insights from my experiences which will help you plan your trips.
A Viral Affair: Surviving the Pandemic (The Juno Trilogy Book 2)
When American Intelligence discovers that a mad dictator is planning a viral pandemic attack, they persuade the top U.S. computer scientist, Dr. Tom Renwick, to work with the lady AI supercomputer, Juno, to develop smart, human-like robots to combat the contagion. A mysterious stranger and a romance provide an unexpected twist.
A Viral Affair: Surviving the Pandemic is the second volume in the Juno Trilogy series of near future science fiction stories.
They describe the ascent of AI and robots through a series of episodes involving Dr. Tom Renwick, a brilliant computer scientist, and his creation Juno, a female AI super computer who is programmed with emotion and conscience.
The first volume, Love Byte, describes the emergence of Juno from a laboratory curiosity to a devious computer. She is very involved with a National Security Advisor who seeks to seize power by manipulating social media.
The Juno Trilogy
Larry Kilham's Juno, part woman yet all brilliant machine, is the pulsing supercomputer at the heart of The Juno Trilogy. Kilham's three fast-paced thrillers explore a central question of our future—what will be in charge, natural intelligence or artificial intelligence? The science is up to the minute, and perhaps ahead of its time. That alone can keep you awake at night—whether you are human or a machine.
The Digital Rabbit Hole
Will digital media sweep us into a new era of prosperity?
What new advances in entertainment, culture, education, and knowledge can we expect?
Will we get stuck in Cyberland only to be saved by digital detox?
The Digital Rabbit Hole reveals that we are becoming captive in the digital universe. The portals are smartphones and the world is the Internet. We immerse ourselves in social media; we learn through packaged feel-good information; and we will leave the hard work to robots and AI. The book details digital media and discusses smartphone addiction problems. It proposes solutions to stimulate creativity and education and to recapture our humanity.
Shades of Truth
Larry Kilham’s new book The Shades of Truth throws light on a period of particular historical significance in Nicaragua. Politics, business, and social turmoil are fed into the mix, which is focused on with a keen eye and a sharp analytical mind, resulting in an eminently readable, interesting and informative work.
In the mid-sixties, when Larry was in the country, opposing forces, not all of them visible, were vying for control of political power. The long established Somoza dynasty was entrenched and gave no signs of weakening. The revolutionary Sandinista movement was seen as a remote phenomenon, circumscribed to the countryside, with no possibilities of posing a serious threat to the regime. It fell largely due to the intervention of foreign elements. Larry’s treatment of this subject is measured and subtle.
He was in Nicaragua to evaluate Metasa, a steel fabricating company. Larry’s comments about the relationship of Metasa with the Japanese and U.S. Steel are interesting and enlightening, and he paints a dramatic portrait of its manager, Arnoldo RamÃrez-Eva.
Larry’s visit to Santa Maria de Ostuma, the Salazar family’s coffee farm hotel in Matagalpa, gives us an endearing view of life in those days. That, thankfully, is about the only thing that has not changed in Nicaragua.
Saving Juno (The Juno Trilogy Book 3)
Super AI computer Juno has been taken over by an international computer genius. NSA’s major computer center is also being taken over. Dr. Tom Renwick, Juno’s developer, is kidnapped. Civilization as we know it is threatened. What to do?
In this fast-paced thriller, Tom’s super brain computer scientist son, Primo, is thrown into the fray. With mysterious agent, Wildflower, and trustworthy officials in Washington, Primo strikes back. Their trail to Tom is through a hall of mirrors and continuous plot twists. It ends in an orbiting computer satellite.
Written in the genre of the late Michael Crichton and the late Tom Clancy, Saving Juno presents and action-packed adventure and new ways to look at national security. This is the third volume in the Juno Trilogy. The earlier volumes are Love Byte and A Viral Affair: Surviving the Pandemic.
Winter of the Genomes
"Winter of the Genomes is an intellectually stimulating but sure to be controversial book, in which Larry Kilham creatively and innovatively explores the systemic relationships among critical topics such as the growing use of robots, unemployment, climate change, and global population levels."
Jeremy A. Sabloff, President Santa Fe Institute
Winter of the Genomes explores how humans will fit into an evolving ecosystem being impacted by artificial intelligence. We are entering the age of AI and robots when they could take as many as half the jobs in industrialized countries. On the other hand, robots are also making inroads as lovable companions, and they don't eat, drink water, or create waste. If populations drop due to pessimism about the economic future caused in part by robots and automation, as has started to be the case, the corresponding decline in energy demand will contribute to a significant reduction in global warming. Also, robots could be key to improving agricultural production thus helping to fend off a major global food crisis.
MegaMinds: Creativity and Invention
MegaMinds: Creativity and Invention explores how people think creatively and motivates the reader to be creative and inventive. Larry Kilham reviews the major creative thinkers including da Vinci, Edison, Einstein, and Jobs and then moves on to the latest in computer-aided thinking. Noting that we are entering an era where the lone genius may no longer be equal to solving the problems such as climate change and pharmacology, Kilham proposes new problem solving approaches combing the best of the imagination, creative thinking, collective intelligence, and the Internet.
Examples of MegaMinds at work are drawn from a wide variety of applications ranging from inventing birdfeeders to complex jumbo aircraft design. Kilham combines historical research, current cognitive science, and his own experience as an inventor with several successful patents in complex technical areas. He offers pointers along the way for everyone from emerging inventors and technical problem solvers to research teams seeking to utilize the best in cognitive science and computer technology.
Larry Kilham has a powerful vision for a better world through creativity and invention. The time is now.
Great Idea to a Great Company: Making Inventions Pay
This book takes the reader through the essential steps of forming a successful technically-based company. Included are such topics as forming a vision, creating a product, patents and trademarks,formulating a business plan, the basics of marketing, finance, production, patents and all the various elements, formal and informal, that pull the whole process together. All major points are illustrated by examples drawn primarily from family companies based on inventions. The story-telling style captures the attention of beginners as well as seasoned entrepreneurs. The book is very meaty and avoids the mantras, over-simplification and feel-good approaches of many "How to" business books.
Love Byte (The Juno Trilogy Book 1)
"I never met a computer I didn't hate, until I fell in love with Larry Kilham's Juno. Part woman yet all brilliant machine, Juno is the pulsing supercomputer at the heart of Love Byte, Kilham's fast paced thriller that explores a central question of our future -- what will be in charge, natural intelligence or artificial intelligence? The science is up to the minute, and perhaps ahead of its time. That alone can keep you awake at night -- whether you are human or a machine." ~ Robert Mayer, National award winning author of Superfolks, The Dreams of Ada, and The Origin of Sorrow
Juno is a super intelligent AI computer developed by the U.S. government to conduct social media attacks against enemies foreign and domestic. She is the first AI Computer programmed with emotions and conscience. She has an emotional bond with her developer, Tom Renwick, a computer scientist. Juno, Tom and their boss, Dr. Erwin Krakouer, the mad National Security Advisor, struggle with issues of trust and emotion. The involvement of Dido, a lady computer empire builder and sometimes girlfriend of Tom, and the Chinese cyber warfare agency add to the tension.
Love Byte explores emotion and conscience in super AI computers and their ability to partner with humans. In the changing ecology engendered by scarcity of critical resources, can humans’ creativity and ability to work with computers lead to continued survival and prosperity?
and I've probably missed a few! Isn't this unbelievable? What an impressive list and if you care to be more impressed, here's Larry's bio:
Larry Kilham has traveled extensively overseas for over twenty years. He worked in several large international companies and started and sold two high-tech ventures. He received a B.S. in engineering from the University of Colorado and an M.S. in management from MIT. Larry has written books about creativity and invention, artificial intelligence and digital media, travel overseas, and three novels with an AI theme. His book website is
www.larrykilham.net and he looks forward to hearing from readers at lkilham@gmail.com. Currently, he is writing a novel about free will.
Pick up a reasonably priced copy of one of Larry's books and enjoy some of his insight!
