Michael C. Grumley's Blog
September 7, 2023
New Book Giveaway
Just a little over four months until the new book comes out. Sign up for the Goodreads giveaway and a chance to win a free copy!
https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sh...
https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sh...
March 9, 2021
Echo - The Breakthrough Conclusion
Hi, everyone. Hold onto your hats. The final Breakthrough book 'Echo" is out!
It's been a long time in the making and I think you're really going to like the final story. Just be sure to clear your schedule.
https://www.amazon.com/o/asin/B08X42T3VR
Michael
It's been a long time in the making and I think you're really going to like the final story. Just be sure to clear your schedule.
https://www.amazon.com/o/asin/B08X42T3VR
Michael
January 31, 2019
Mosaic is out!
MOSAIC, the new Breakthrough book…is out!
Your favorite characters are back, in an even bigger and more incredible story.
So get comfortable, put on a pot of coffee, and hold onto your hat.
https://www.amazon.com/o/asin/B07N662525
Your favorite characters are back, in an even bigger and more incredible story.
So get comfortable, put on a pot of coffee, and hold onto your hat.
https://www.amazon.com/o/asin/B07N662525
January 27, 2019
Mosaic - Breakthrough Book 5
I know it's been a long wait, but barring any problems, the next Breakthrough book "Mosaic" should be out by the 31st of this month. Just a few more days!
Hold onto your hat.
Hold onto your hat.
Can we really do it?
It looks like someone on this team may have read the Breakthrough books. ;)
Michael
The Language of Dolphins Could Be Translated by 2021
GAVAGAI AB
Swedish startup Gavagai AB, a language technology company that originated at the Swedish Institute of Computer Science, has mastered 40 human languages with its language analysis software. Now, researchers from the KTH Royal Institute of Technology are teaming up with Gavagai AB to take on the language of dolphins, in a project undoubtedly focused as much on testing and expanding the system’s capabilities as deciphering the thoughts of dolphins.
The team will monitor bottlenose dolphins in a wildlife park and use Gavagai’s artificial intelligence (AI) language analysis technology to decode the sounds and, if all goes according to plan, compile a dictionary of dolphin language. The team is confident that they’ll be able to do this, thanks not only to the AI capabilities of the Gavagai AB system, but also to the availability of more dolphin data, larger computational resources, and newer recording methods.
“We hope to be able to understand dolphins with the help of artificial intelligence technology,” KTH adjunct professor and Gavagai co-founder Jussi Karlgren said in an interview with Bloomberg. “We know that dolphins have a complex communication system, but we don’t know what they are talking about yet.” Whether Gavagai can convince other researchers in marine biology remains to be seen.
Gavagai has already mastered 40 languages, but their systems focus on textual analytics. Like the ultimate tool for a paranoid junior high school student — or a savvy business that needs to manage its reputation and keep an eye on competitors — These programs by Gavagai allow for deep textual analysis in 40 languages. This can include monitoring and comparing various concepts as well as providing instant, visual insights into a range of possible emotional responses.
AI BREAKING BARRIERS
Understanding dolphin language may sound like kind of a strange goal, but in context it makes sense. Of course, zoologists would benefit from the breakthrough, but so would businesses. Massive companies like Amazon.com and Alphabet are already using machine learning and AI to respond to customer requests and problems faster and without new programming. This latest venture with dolphins will be a kind of next level testing for these kinds of capabilities, and as CEO Lars Hamberg tells Bloomberg, the dolphin research will help Gavagai AB improve its tool for other uses.
Beyond this, it isn’t hard to envision other applications, some more controversial than others. The U.S. Navy has used marine mammals, including dolphins, in its San Diego Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific (SPAWAR) for some time. Their dolphins have been used for thinks like mine-seeking.
The idea of preparing to communicate with alien forms also comes to mind. One of the problems with finding extraterrestrial life, as exciting as the prospect is, is that we will need to find ways to communicate. Since Gavagai’s systems have already mastered human languages, moving on to other life forms seems like a smart next step if we someday hope to use AI and machine learning to communicate with who- and whatever we meet as we explore further through our Universe.
Michael
The Language of Dolphins Could Be Translated by 2021
GAVAGAI AB
Swedish startup Gavagai AB, a language technology company that originated at the Swedish Institute of Computer Science, has mastered 40 human languages with its language analysis software. Now, researchers from the KTH Royal Institute of Technology are teaming up with Gavagai AB to take on the language of dolphins, in a project undoubtedly focused as much on testing and expanding the system’s capabilities as deciphering the thoughts of dolphins.
The team will monitor bottlenose dolphins in a wildlife park and use Gavagai’s artificial intelligence (AI) language analysis technology to decode the sounds and, if all goes according to plan, compile a dictionary of dolphin language. The team is confident that they’ll be able to do this, thanks not only to the AI capabilities of the Gavagai AB system, but also to the availability of more dolphin data, larger computational resources, and newer recording methods.
“We hope to be able to understand dolphins with the help of artificial intelligence technology,” KTH adjunct professor and Gavagai co-founder Jussi Karlgren said in an interview with Bloomberg. “We know that dolphins have a complex communication system, but we don’t know what they are talking about yet.” Whether Gavagai can convince other researchers in marine biology remains to be seen.
Gavagai has already mastered 40 languages, but their systems focus on textual analytics. Like the ultimate tool for a paranoid junior high school student — or a savvy business that needs to manage its reputation and keep an eye on competitors — These programs by Gavagai allow for deep textual analysis in 40 languages. This can include monitoring and comparing various concepts as well as providing instant, visual insights into a range of possible emotional responses.
AI BREAKING BARRIERS
Understanding dolphin language may sound like kind of a strange goal, but in context it makes sense. Of course, zoologists would benefit from the breakthrough, but so would businesses. Massive companies like Amazon.com and Alphabet are already using machine learning and AI to respond to customer requests and problems faster and without new programming. This latest venture with dolphins will be a kind of next level testing for these kinds of capabilities, and as CEO Lars Hamberg tells Bloomberg, the dolphin research will help Gavagai AB improve its tool for other uses.
Beyond this, it isn’t hard to envision other applications, some more controversial than others. The U.S. Navy has used marine mammals, including dolphins, in its San Diego Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific (SPAWAR) for some time. Their dolphins have been used for thinks like mine-seeking.
The idea of preparing to communicate with alien forms also comes to mind. One of the problems with finding extraterrestrial life, as exciting as the prospect is, is that we will need to find ways to communicate. Since Gavagai’s systems have already mastered human languages, moving on to other life forms seems like a smart next step if we someday hope to use AI and machine learning to communicate with who- and whatever we meet as we explore further through our Universe.
October 14, 2013
Something funny happened to my kids on the way to writing my book
Something funny happened when I finished my first book, and it happened to my two young daughters. When they saw me writing every day for months, and finally glimpsed the shiny new book that arrived in the mail with my name on it, they got very excited. Excited for me, sure, but mostly excited for them. You see, now they wanted to be authors!
Many kids love to read and even a number of those like to write. But something seemed to happen when I finished Breakthrough that really crystalized the idea for them. They started thinking about larger stories, and more importantly, the world around them. They started writing small stories and putting their names on them under the title of “author”, and then of course asked if I could publish them. It was beautiful, and perhaps the best “I want to be like daddy” moment of my life.
Now after a few months, the talk of it all has died down, but something is still different. Even if just in what they perceive they are capable of, something is different, and the world is a little brighter to them.
And best of all, they want their daddy to write more. Of course, now they want me to write a book just for them, and you know what, I think I just might…
Many kids love to read and even a number of those like to write. But something seemed to happen when I finished Breakthrough that really crystalized the idea for them. They started thinking about larger stories, and more importantly, the world around them. They started writing small stories and putting their names on them under the title of “author”, and then of course asked if I could publish them. It was beautiful, and perhaps the best “I want to be like daddy” moment of my life.
Now after a few months, the talk of it all has died down, but something is still different. Even if just in what they perceive they are capable of, something is different, and the world is a little brighter to them.
And best of all, they want their daddy to write more. Of course, now they want me to write a book just for them, and you know what, I think I just might…
August 26, 2013
What the hell did I just write?!
I’ve discovered that something really funny happens when you write a book part-time. It’s no surprise that writing a novel requires some creativity followed by a huge amount of discipline, and as part-time writers go, some have very different approaches. For example some people write in the early morning hours, some (like myself) write at night when the day is done, some write in fits and starts, and some even do it by writing the ending first. Don’t ask me how you write a book by starting with the ending, I still haven’t figured it out.
But for those like me that write in the evenings, something very interesting happens from time to time; you get tired. In fact sometimes you get so tired that your brain begins shutting down when you’re trying hard to think through an important scene or dialog. But the funny part is that sometimes, you actually fall asleep. And believe it or not, it’s not merely the falling asleep that makes it funny, it’s the waking up!
Several times, while writing my second book Shadows, I fell asleep in the middle of an important scene…which was then followed just moments later with me suddenly waking up and wondering out loud “What the hell did I just write?!” Imagine falling asleep during a conversation only to wake up startled and wondering what you just said to the person. Did it make any sense? Was it offensive? Was it even in English?
It’s a strange experience, but here’s the funniest part of all. Nearly every time that I woke back up wondering what I just wrote, it was almost always…good. Yes, good. Granted it’s just a short sentence or two, but how that happens I have absolutely no idea. Now imagine that scene from the other perspective, as a witness, watching as someone suddenly jerks them self awake and stares at their screen in a panic. That’s got to be funny as hell. Fortunately no one has caught me at it yet, but then again having three girls in the house makes me think it’s just a matter of time.
Someone please tell me I’m not alone.
But for those like me that write in the evenings, something very interesting happens from time to time; you get tired. In fact sometimes you get so tired that your brain begins shutting down when you’re trying hard to think through an important scene or dialog. But the funny part is that sometimes, you actually fall asleep. And believe it or not, it’s not merely the falling asleep that makes it funny, it’s the waking up!
Several times, while writing my second book Shadows, I fell asleep in the middle of an important scene…which was then followed just moments later with me suddenly waking up and wondering out loud “What the hell did I just write?!” Imagine falling asleep during a conversation only to wake up startled and wondering what you just said to the person. Did it make any sense? Was it offensive? Was it even in English?
It’s a strange experience, but here’s the funniest part of all. Nearly every time that I woke back up wondering what I just wrote, it was almost always…good. Yes, good. Granted it’s just a short sentence or two, but how that happens I have absolutely no idea. Now imagine that scene from the other perspective, as a witness, watching as someone suddenly jerks them self awake and stares at their screen in a panic. That’s got to be funny as hell. Fortunately no one has caught me at it yet, but then again having three girls in the house makes me think it’s just a matter of time.
Someone please tell me I’m not alone.
What author would you most want to talk to?
Many years ago, before even the computer dominance of America Online, there was an old, online community by the name of CompuServe. At the time I was reading several books by a science fiction writer named Jack L. Chalker. I was very impressed with his ideas and wondered if he might possibly be a member of CompuServe, so I searched on his name and found a match. I then sent a message asking if he was the same person as the science fiction writer, and to my astonishment, he was!
What followed was a short exchange of messages wherein I asked what the life of a successful author was like. I was somewhat of an aspiring writer and curious what an author’s life was like from their side, or more importantly, from reality.
What he said stunned me. He started by explaining that being an author was an extremely lonely life. That you were only as good as the success of your last book and it was entirely possible to have to declare bankruptcy while waiting for a $100,000 check from your publisher. He said that was why so many other science fiction writers had full time jobs, such as math teachers.
I also asked whether being a writer filled him with an inkling of an immortal feeling, since his books could very well be “out there” for decades, or possibly even centuries. Instead he countered by telling me the feeling was more like having a child leave home; the story and its characters that you had developed and fostered for so long, suddenly gone and out of his hands. I’ll never forget that, after publishing Breakthrough I think I knew what he meant.
All in all, it was a short and terribly profound exchange. Jack L. Chalker died in 2005 so I’ll never get a chance to follow up with him. But his advice and insight will stay with me forever.
So…the question is…which author would you most like to converse with?
Michael
What followed was a short exchange of messages wherein I asked what the life of a successful author was like. I was somewhat of an aspiring writer and curious what an author’s life was like from their side, or more importantly, from reality.
What he said stunned me. He started by explaining that being an author was an extremely lonely life. That you were only as good as the success of your last book and it was entirely possible to have to declare bankruptcy while waiting for a $100,000 check from your publisher. He said that was why so many other science fiction writers had full time jobs, such as math teachers.
I also asked whether being a writer filled him with an inkling of an immortal feeling, since his books could very well be “out there” for decades, or possibly even centuries. Instead he countered by telling me the feeling was more like having a child leave home; the story and its characters that you had developed and fostered for so long, suddenly gone and out of his hands. I’ll never forget that, after publishing Breakthrough I think I knew what he meant.
All in all, it was a short and terribly profound exchange. Jack L. Chalker died in 2005 so I’ll never get a chance to follow up with him. But his advice and insight will stay with me forever.
So…the question is…which author would you most like to converse with?
Michael
