The Decline and Fall of IBM: End of an American Icon?


Robert Cringely - 2014
    Big Blue, as the company is known, tends to rely for its success on magical thinking but that magic ran out a long time ago. The company got in trouble back in the 1990s and had to hire for the first time an outside CEO, Lou Gerstner, to save the day. Gerstner pushed IBM into services with spectacular results but this hurt the company, too. As services have became commoditized IBM could only compete by offshoring the work and quality suffered. The other negative impact of Gerstner was his compensation which was for the first time in IBM history very high. Only the Watson family had become rich running IBM with later CEOs like John Opel and John Akers living comfortable lives with lots of perks, but they never got BIG RICH. That changed with Gerstner. Sam Palmisano an IBM lifer followed Gerstner as CEO and followed, too, the Gerstner playbook. Palmisano retired three years ago with a retirement package worth $241 million, replaced by IBM's first woman CEO, Ginni Rometty, who certainly expects a comparable golden parachute. In order to achieve these numbers, though, IBM has essentially sacrificed both its customers and employees. In order to have ever growing earnings per share the company has cut labor to the bone, off-shored everything it can, dropped quality, deliberately underbid contracts to win them then not performed. IBM's acquisition policy is one of buying companies to get their sales then cutting costs to the bone and under-delivering. This and share buybacks have kept earnings growing until this house of cards recently began to fall. Ginni Rometty, who will end up taking the fall for Palmisano's flawed strategy, has stated a very specific earnings goal for 2015 that she will destroy the company to achieve if she must. This book how IBM fell from grace, where it is headed, and what specifically can be done to save the company before it is too late.

So You've Retired: A Practical Guide For Your Happy Retirement


Olivia Greenwell - 2016
     Approaching or beginning retirement is a milestone event. For most of our lives retirement feels like it’s on the distant horizon, something to think about tomorrow rather than today. When the day finally does arrive, for many it can feel a little daunting and overwhelming – how should one spend all this new found free time? Olivia Greenwell has the answers, with friendly advice on: How to navigate your way through the questions you may have New opportunities that could present themselves in retirement How to find further information on the exciting opportunities presented As you experience the wonderful peace and contentment of retirement, this book will help you discover what makes you happy, and how to enjoy your life to the fullest. What are you waiting for? Start living the retirement you always dreamt of, by uncovering all the tools you need today!

The Little Redis Book


Karl Seguin
    While it's safe to say that relational databases aren't going anywhere, we can also say that the ecosystem around data is never going to be the same.Of all the new tools and solutions, for me, Redis has been the most exciting. Why? First because it's unbelievably easy to learn. Hours is the right unit to use when talking about length of time it takes to get comfortable with Redis. Secondly, it solves a specific set of problems while at the same time being quite generic. What exactly does that mean? Redis doesn't try to be all things to all data. As you get to know Redis, it'll become increasingly evident what does and what does not belong in it. And when it does, as a developer, it's a great experience.While you can build a complete system using Redis only, I think most people will find that it supplements their more generic data solution - whether that be a traditional relational database, a document-oriented system, or something else. It's the kind of solution you use to implement specific features. In that way, it's similar to an indexing engine. You wouldn't build your entire application on Lucene. But when you need good search, it's a much better experience - for both you and your users. Of course, the similarities between Redis and indexing engines end there.The goal of this book is to build the foundation you'll need to master Redis. We'll focus on learning Redis' five data structures and look at various data modeling approaches. We'll also touch on some key administrative details and debugging techniques.LicenseThe Little Redis Book is licensed under the Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported license. You should not have paid for this book.You are free to copy, distribute, modify or display the book. However, I ask that you always attribute the book to me, Karl Seguin, and do not use it for commercial purposes.You can see the full text of the license at:http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...About The AuthorKarl Seguin is a developer with experience across various fields and technologies. He's an active contributor to Open-Source Software projects, a technical writer and an occasional speaker. He's written various articles, as well as a few tools, about Redis. Redis powers the ranking and statistics of his free service for casual game developers: mogade.com.Karl wrote The Little MongoDB Book, the free and popular book about MongoDB.His blog can be found at http://openmymind.net and he tweets via @karlseguinWith Thanks ToA special thanks to Perry Neal for lending me his eyes, mind and passion. You provided me with invaluable help. Thank you.Latest VersionThe latest source of this book is available at: http://github.com/karlseguin/the-litt...

Hard Core Poor - a book on extreme thrift


Kelly Sangree - 2014
    I hope it helps you too!

Sam the Cooking Guy: Just a Bunch of Recipes


Sam Zien - 2008
    And it's not that you can't--it's that you don't. It's that we've been wrecked by cooking shows with their millions of complicated steps and crazy-ass ingredients. Ingredients you can't find, let alone pronounce. That's not how I want to cook. I want to eat well, but I don't want it to take a year. Who's making stuff like 'Truffled Peruvian Mountain Squab with Chilled Framboise Foam' anyway? "So this book is about food that's big in taste and small in effort. Just great-tasting stuff with no fancy techniques and definitely no over-the-top ingredients, as in everything-comes-from-a-regular-supermarket--cool concept, huh? It's just a bunch of recipes you'll easily be able to make and enjoy."--From Sam the Cooking GuyLook inside for great recipes like these:• One Dank Tomato Pie • "Whatever" Spring Rolls • Five-Minute Stir-Fry Noodles • O.F.R.B.P.J.G.O. • Awww Nuts! • BBQ Chicken Pizza • Halloween Chicken Chili • Fridge Fried Rice • Sam's Sticky Sweet BBQ Ribs • Stuffed Burgers • Pesto BBQ Shrimp • Chili Salmon • Motor Home Meatballs • Spicy-ish Sausage Pasta • The Great Potato Cake • Brussels Sprouts You'll Actually Eat • (Fake) Creme Brulee • Chocolate Toffee Matzoh  • Peanut Butter Ice-Cream Cup Things

Saving My Knees: How I Proved My Doctors Wrong and Beat Chronic Knee Pain


Richard Bedard - 2011
    Richard Bedard was a journalist in his mid-40s, living abroad, when he was diagnosed with patellofemoral pain syndrome, or chondromalacia patella. His burning joints made his life so miserable that he fantasized about hacking off his kneecaps. Four doctors failed to help; one said he would never get better. His physical therapist finally gave up too.Unable to sit normally, he quit his job. Unemployed and desperate, he launched a year-long, round-the-clock experiment to save his knees. He read from scores of clinical studies, medical textbooks, health newsletters. What he discovered left him stunned. There was a familiar story about what patellofemoral pain syndrome was and how to treat it: The advice to focus on strengthening the quads. To stretch. To take glucosamine. To forget about cartilage healing, because that never happened.And that story was completely wrong.Armed with this knowledge, he fashioned a plan to get better. Within two years, he fully recovered. This compelling story chronicles a long journey of healing and discovery. It shows that a patient’s true ally isn’t simply hope, but informed hope.

Career Superpowers: Succeeding on Purpose


James A. Whittaker - 2014
    Take away the pedigreed and the prodigies—you know the people who are going to succeed no matter what—and the brown-nosers and right-time-right-place lottery winners and who do you have left? The people who succeeded on purpose. Study these folks carefully and you’ll find common themes around their path to the top. This book exposes the career strategies of the ultra-successful and analyzes them in detail. You’ll learn about personal strategies for identifying high-payoff activities and gain insight into being more effective as an individual contributor, manager and leader. You will learn how to identify and interact with the right set of career mentors and role models. Being successful doesn’t have to be an accident. Read this book and learn how to succeed on purpose.

Coastal Cruising Made Easy (The American Sailing Association's Coastal Cruising Made Easy)


American Sailing Association
    The text is published in full color and contains striking sailing photography from well-known photographer Billy Black, and world-class illustrations from award-winning illustrator Peter Bull. One of the text's most distinguishing features is its user friendly "spreads" in which instructional topics are self-contained on opposing pages throughout the book. This easy to read learning tool follows the critically acclaimed Sailing Made Easy, which Sailing Magazine called "best in class" upon its release in 2010. Sailing Made Easy is the #1 resource in basic sailing education, and Coastal Cruising Made Easy is poised to become the industry standard in intermediate sailing education.

The Best American Sports Writing 2018


Glenn Stout - 2018
    Each year, the series editor and guest editor curate a truly exceptional collection. The only shared traits among all these diverse styles, voices, and stories are the extraordinarily high caliber of writing, and the pure passion they tap into that can only come from sports.

Nmap Cookbook: The Fat-free Guide to Network Scanning


Nicholas Marsh - 2010
    Every Nmap feature is covered with visual examples to help you quickly understand and identify proper usage for practical results.Topics covered include:* Installation on Windows, Mac OS X, Unix/Linux platforms* Basic and advanced scanning techniques* Network inventory and security auditing* Firewall evasion techniques* Zenmap - A graphical front-end for Nmap* NSE - The Nmap Scripting Engine* Ndiff - A Nmap scan comparison utilitySimplified coverage of Nmap 5.00 features.

Art of Leadership


J. Donald Walters - 2001
    Most leaders need reminding everyday that with their privileges comes responsibility and obligation. If any young man or woman seeking to become a leader and not a manager only reads one book on leadership, let it be this one!

The Old Farmer's Almanac 2014


Old Farmer's Almanac - 2013
    This is the one, the only, Old Farmer’s Almanac! Recognized for generations by its familiar yellow cover, the Almanac for 2014 promises to be "useful, with a pleasant degree of humor," fulfilling once again (for the 222nd time) the mission set forth in 1792 by its founder, Robert B. Thomas. In addition to its 80 percent–accurate weather, this year’s signature mix of wit and wisdom, tips and advice, forecasts and fun includes . . . • an astronomy quiz to test your Sky-Q • anglers’ six favorite fish and secrets to hooking them • vegetables and other perennial edibles to grow • the time in our lives: where it goes, ways to make the most of it, and more • the whole truth about whole grains • how to get bitten by a pet (if you’re not careful) • rings around Earth (think Saturn) that might influence our weather • health tips for each zodiac sign • envelope and napkin jottings that changed the world • plus: Moon phases and other celestial sightings, tides, historic trivia, gardening tables, best days, and too much more to mention! Added value this year: • 80 full-color pages • full-color winter and summer weather maps • updated Reference section

Metal Detecting: A Beginner's Guide to Mastering the Greatest Hobby In the World


Mark D. Smith - 2014
    This book shows you how to claim your share. Over 200 pages of valuable metal detecting information designed to get you out there finding treasure on your very first outing.Finding treasure with a metal detector is real and doing it is simple and easy once you read this book. There are people finding incredible old coins made from gold and silver, valuable historical relics and old jewelry made from gold, silver and platinum. But you won't find these great treasures unless you know where and how to look. Metal Detecting: A Beginner's Guide shows you this and much more.Veteran detectorist and treasure enthusiast Mark Smith continues to provide great information to anyone interested in the great hobby of metal detecting. In his second book on the subject, he manages to answer the common questions that every novice has when they are thinking about getting started. From choosing the right machine to identifying your valuable treasure, Mark Smith covers these subjects and everything in between in an easy to understand way.While this metal detecting book may be geared towards the novice treasure hunter, there are plenty of choice tips that even experienced treasure hunters can pick up. Mark Smith reveals some of his best guarded metal detecting secrets in this metal detecting guide that puts more treasure in your find's pouch.Fully illustrated diagrams and real life pictures describe in detail the easiest ways to not only locate treasure, but safely recover it as well.Learn how to find more treasure by: understanding common metal detecting terminology, understanding which metal detectors work the best and where, understanding how and why a metal detector works, other equipment you will need, proper etiquette, what you can expect to find, why you should never throw anything away, how to identify your finds, how to identify jewelry, how to tell if it is real gold, how to metal detect with children, which recovery tools work the best, how to recover treasure, how to metal detect private property, how to identify unknown metal detecting finds, metal detecting creeks, rivers and lakes, pinpointing, making weak targets stronger, cleaning your finds, the best places to use your metal detector, selling your finds and more!What are you waiting for? Find out how you can maximize your treasure with this informative metal detecting book today.

Center of Attention: A True Crime Memoir


Jami D. Brown Martin - 2020
    The photo looks completely out of place on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list where it’s been since December, 8, 2007. For eight of those years, Jason appeared directly beside Osama Bin Laden. Bin Laden is long gone, but Jason is still wanted for armed robbery and murder.For years, his sister, Jami D. Brown Martin has watched the true crime programs and read the amateur investigative blogs devoted to Jason, his crime, and the efforts to apprehend him knowing the story wasn’t as simple, nor was it just Jason’s. To be the sister, brother, or relative of one of the world’s most wanted men is to live every day with the horrible truth and many consequences of his brutal act.CENTER OF ATTENTION is the story of a former Mormon missionary turned murderer. It is also a riveting look behind the facade of the genetically blessed, seemingly prominent and pious Brown family of Laguna Beach, California. It is a tale of the family patriarch, John Brown, who disappeared without a trace ten years before his son. More important, it is the gripping and ultimately hopeful story of the sister of one of the world’s most wanted fugitives and her journey to accept that despite being a product of the same crazy environment as her brother, her life and path are her own.

Summary: The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life


Elizabeth Keen - 2017
    If you’re looking for the original book, search this link http://amzn.to/2uzu0Xl) Charles Bukowski was a popular author and poet, but his rise to fame was difficult. He was a drunk and he was crude. He was middle-aged by the time someone published one of his novels. However, fame did not change Bukowski. He continued to live the drunken life of a loser. His writing was popular because it was honest. In the end, Charles Bukowski became famous because he didn’t care what other people thought of him.Our culture defines success by how much stuff we have. The more we have, the better life we must lead. The problem is that society tells us what we need by reminding us what we lack. We become dissatisfied with our current situation, and strive to get whatever is bigger and better. While this is a good strategy if you’re a business, as a consumer it causes us to never be content with what we have.Advertisements tell us to give a fuck about everything, because it’s good for their businesses. The author urges us to give a fuck about only the important things in life... Read more.... This is a ZERO-RISK investment. Should you find this book unworthy of the original coffee price of $2.99, get a REFUND within 7 days! The Time for Thinking is Over! Time for Action! Scroll Up Now and Click on the “Buy now with 1-Click” Button to Download your Copy Right Away! (Disclaimer: This is NOT the original book. If you’re looking for the original book, search this link: http://amzn.to/2uzu0Xl