Geek Mafia

Geek Mafia

Author: Rick Dakan

Publisher: PM Press

Published: 2007-12-01

Total Pages: 384

ISBN-13: 1604861371

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Inspired by author Rick Dakan’s own eventful experiences in the video game and comic book industries, the Geek Mafia series satisfies the hunger in all of us to buck the system, take revenge on corporate America, and live a life of excitement and adventure. Key West—southernmost point in the United States, Mile Zero on Highway 1; and as far as you can run away from your past troubles without swimming to Cuba. Key West—originally Cayo Huesos or Isle of Bones, for centuries a refuge for pirates, wreckers, writers, scoundrels, drunks, and tourists. Now home to a Crew of techno geek con artists who’ve turned it into their own private hunting ground. Paul and Chloe have the run of the sun-drenched island, free to play and scam far from the enemies they left behind in Silicon Valley. But that doesn’t mean they can’t bring a little high tech know how to the paradise. They and their new Crew have covered the island with their own private Big Brother style network—hidden cameras, RFID sensors, and a web of informers that tip them off about every crime committed and tourist trapped on the island. But will all the gadgets and games be enough when not one but three rival crews of con artists come to hold a top-secret gang summit? And when one of them is murdered, who will solve the crime?


The Nerd and I

The Nerd and I

Author: Elle Sugi

Publisher:

Published: 2020-11-10

Total Pages: 282

ISBN-13:

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Five years have passed since Matthias Blaise left Earl Harrison. Earl's life changed drastically without him. He found a new job, a new lover, and a new life.But what will happen when Matthias suddenly comes back to claim him. Will Earl fall in love again with the same man who broke his heart five years ago?


The Bomber Mafia

The Bomber Mafia

Author: Malcolm Gladwell

Publisher: Little, Brown

Published: 2021-04-27

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 0316296937

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A “truly compelling” (Good Morning America) New York Times bestseller that explores how technology and best intentions collide in the heat of war—from the creator and host of the podcast Revisionist History. In The Bomber Mafia, Malcolm Gladwell weaves together the stories of a Dutch genius and his homemade computer, a band of brothers in central Alabama, a British psychopath, and pyromaniacal chemists at Harvard to examine one of the greatest moral challenges in modern American history. Most military thinkers in the years leading up to World War II saw the airplane as an afterthought. But a small band of idealistic strategists, the “Bomber Mafia,” asked: What if precision bombing could cripple the enemy and make war far less lethal? In contrast, the bombing of Tokyo on the deadliest night of the war was the brainchild of General Curtis LeMay, whose brutal pragmatism and scorched-earth tactics in Japan cost thousands of civilian lives, but may have spared even more by averting a planned US invasion. In The Bomber Mafia, Gladwell asks, “Was it worth it?” Things might have gone differently had LeMay’s predecessor, General Haywood Hansell, remained in charge. Hansell believed in precision bombing, but when he and Curtis LeMay squared off for a leadership handover in the jungles of Guam, LeMay emerged victorious, leading to the darkest night of World War II. The Bomber Mafia is a riveting tale of persistence, innovation, and the incalculable wages of war.


DarkMarket

DarkMarket

Author: Misha Glenny

Publisher: House of Anansi

Published: 2011-09-15

Total Pages: 306

ISBN-13: 1770890483

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Shortlisted for the Orwell Prize and the CWA Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction Award The benefits of living in a digital, globalised society are enormous; so too are the dangers. The world has become a law enforcer's nightmare and every criminal's dream. We bank online, shop online, date, learn, work and live online. But have the institutions that keep us safe on the streets learned to protect us in the burgeoning digital world? Have we become complacent about our personal security -- sharing our thoughts, beliefs and the details of our daily lives with anyone who cares to relieve us of them? In this fascinating and compelling book, Misha Glenny, author of the international bestseller McMafia, explores the three fundamental threats facing us in the twenty-first century: cyber crime, cyber warfare and cyber industrial espionage. Governments and the private sector are losing billions of dollars each year, fighting an ever-morphing, often invisible, and highly intelligent new breed of criminal: the hacker. Glenny has travelled and trawled the world. And by exploring the rise and fall of the criminal website, DarkMarket, he has uncovered the most vivid, alarming and illuminating stories. Whether JiLsi or Matrix, Iceman, Master Splynter or Lord Cyric; whether Detective Sergeant Chris Dawson in Bolton or Agent Keith Mularski in Pittsburgh, Glenny has tracked down and interviewed all the players -- the criminals, the geeks, the police, the security experts and the victims -- and he places everyone and everything in a rich brew of politics, economics and history. The result is simply unputdownable. DarkMarket is authoritative and completely engrossing. It's a must-read for everyone who uses a computer: the essential crime book for our times.


Word Nerd

Word Nerd

Author: Barbara Kipfer

Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc.

Published: 2007-06-01

Total Pages: 578

ISBN-13: 1402248466

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Are You a Word Nerd? Did you know... Only a human (not an animal or thing) is "able" to do something The five on dice is called cinque "K" for strike-out in baseball comes from the last letter of "struck" To skice is to frisk about like squirrels in spring For word lovers everywhere, Word Nerd is a rich—and fun—compendium of more than 17,000 fascinating facts about words. Bestselling author Barbara Anne Kipfer has spent years compiling little known tidbits about common—and not so common—words in the English language. Filled with interesting information about words, sure to amaze and spark conversation, this incredible collection is perfect for the word nerd in each of us.


Geektastic: A Geeky Romantic Comedy

Geektastic: A Geeky Romantic Comedy

Author: Mary Frame

Publisher: Mary Frame

Published:

Total Pages: 259

ISBN-13:

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She needs a story. He’s trying to escape one. Annabel Moreland can’t leave podunk Blue Falls, Texas, until her little brother graduates. But she’s about to lose the job she needs to support him like she promised, they’ll end up homeless wretches, and it will be all her fault. Worse, she can’t swing a cat in this town without hitting someone she would rather forget. Unfortunately, the answer to this litany of problems comes in the form of an unforgettable, dead sexy, cat-loving, shenanigan-directing trickster named Jude Parker. He’s got enough secrets to fill the Mississippi and she’s on a mission to fish out every single one. She just needs to do it without falling into his bed . . . again. This is book two in the Dorky Duet and can be read as a stand-alone novel. Book one is Ridorkulous.


Memoirs of an Italian Geek

Memoirs of an Italian Geek

Author: R. Santi

Publisher: iUniverse

Published: 2003-08

Total Pages: 248

ISBN-13: 0595284582

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Memoirs of an Italian Geek is a collection of stories that tell the ongoing tale of the childhood and adolescent escapades of a third generation Italian-American Geek as he deals with the tribulations of life, technology, and friendship throughout the last few decades of the twentieth century. Starting with his earliest memories of the golden years, before school began, and on through to his graduation from high school, the endless impact of his friends and family influences continue to keep our Geek in a constant state of change and often confused. Dealing with personal issues and other cataclysmic changes, our Geek learns that not everything can be prepared for, and sometimes the most meaningful changes occur without warning. Confronted with the challenges of academic achievements (or lack there of) and endless extracurricular chaos (usually inspired by girls) our Geek fights a constant battle between trying to stay afloat on the seas of trouble childhood and not drowning in a coming of age riptide. Memoirs of an Italian Geek is the tale of this journey through churning and often unfriendly waters.


Theater Geek

Theater Geek

Author: Mickey Rapkin

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2010-06-01

Total Pages: 242

ISBN-13: 1439154392

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What do Natalie Portman, Robert Downey, Jr., Zach Braff, and Mandy Moore have in common? Before they were stars, they were campers at Stagedoor Manor, the premier summer theater camp for children and teenagers. Founded in 1975, Stagedoor continues to attract scores of young performers eager to find kindred spirits, to sing out loud, to become working actors—or maybe even stars. Every summer for the past thirty-five years, a new crop of campers has come to the Catskills for an intense, often wrenching introduction to professional theater. (The camp produces thirteen full-scale productions during each of its three sessions.) These kids come from varying backgrounds—the offspring of Hollywood players from Nora Ephron to Bruce Willis work alongside kids on scholarship. Some campers have agents, others are seeking representation. When Mickey Rapkin, a senior editor at GQ and self-proclaimed theater fanatic, learned about this place, he fled Manhattan for an escape to upstate New York. At Stagedoor, he tracked a trio of especially talented and determined teen actors through their final session at camp. Enter Rachael Singer, Brian Muller, and Harry Katzman, three high school seniors closing out their sometimes sheltered Stagedoor experiences and graduating into the real world of industry competition and rejection. These veteran campers—still battling childhood insecurities, but simultaneously searching for that professional gig that will catapult them to fame—pour their souls into what might be their last amateur shows. Their riveting stories are told in Theater Geek, an eye-opening, laugh-out-loud chronicle full of drama and heart, but also about the business of training kids to be professional thespians and, in some cases, child stars. (The camp has long acted as a farm system for Broadway and Hollywood, attracting visits from studio executives and casting directors.) Via original interviews with former and current campers and staff—including Mandy Moore, Zach Braff, and Jon Cryer—Rapkin also recounts Stagedoor Manor’s colorful, star-studded history: What was Natalie Portman’s breakout role as a camper? What big-time Hollywood director, then barely a teenager, dated a much older Stagedoor staff member? Why did Courtney Love (at Stagedoor visiting her daughter) get into an argument with a hot dog vendor who had set up shop at the camp? Theater Geek leads readers through the triumphs and tragedies of the three senior campers’ final summer in an absorbing, thought-provoking narrative that reveals the dynamic and inspiring human beings who populate this world. It also explores what the proliferation of theater camps says about our celebrity-obsessed youth and our most basic but vital need to fit in. Through the rivalry, heartbreak, and joy of one summer at Stagedoor Manor, Rapkin offers theater geeks of all ages a dishy, illuminating romp through the lives of serious child actors. Rich, insightful, and thoroughly entertaining, Theater Geek pulls back the curtain on an elite and intriguing world to reveal what’s really at its core: children who simply love to perform.