"The Complete Blackjack Survival Kit" uses more than 16 billion of computer simulated hands of Blackjack (the Game of "21") to find best play complete with tables. And those tables and odds not only include one deck and six deck examples, but also some newer casino games such as 6:5 Blackjack, Super Fun Blackjack, Spanish 21 and more. The book and its math go further and use math and high speed computer simulation to examine betting and staking strategies. But perhaps the most unique part of this book, that we say makes it "complete", is that it then uses statistics to see what all this means. Can you get rich even if you put the odds in your favor? The author has simulated the game of Blackjack twice using computers. The first time in 1984 using Commodore computers, that actually did the job, but of course were slower. The author then programmed a new far faster simulator for use on multiple high speed Windows computers and ran many more simulations that have become the basis for this book. All work in this book was done independently. Some of the basics you will likely already know or have read, since "math is math". However, I find no one with the exact same tables. And I certainly find no book I have read that reached the same conclusions about the real chances of winning. That might be because in this case, we simulated not only the game - but also the odds of winning in short periods of play. This book of course does not guarantee that you can be a winner in Blackjack and make money. It might though give you perspective and explain why your neighbor has not yet quit his job and moved to Las Vegas. But of course in the middle of all of this, it gives help that some of us can used to improve and also have fun. I also found a few things from the simulations that surprised me as well. - Ron Plachno (author)

This book is a humor book, intended to make you smile. It is set an undisclosed distance in the future, in the USA, in order to try and not conflict with any political parties or people or issues of today. In this future USA, the political parties are now the "Bulls" and the "Bears." And for the sake of humor, they are even more extreme than today, and to say the least, do not get along. But fortunately the rules for becoming a US president are now easier. A very nice man and his family had just emigrated to the US from Asia, India in particular, and this nice man and his family wish to help out their new country, the US. And so Rajak Gandhi Patel the 35th manages to become president. But can he deal with the craziness he sees? Is the family really prepared for what they find? Will anyone help him? I realize that a person could ask me, the author if I have any political bent in this book. And that answer would be "no." I do not belong to any political party. I do not even go to all birthday parties that I am invited to. And more to the point, I made both parties so extreme that I certainly would not want to belong to either of these parties, and my guess is that the reader will feel the same way. But that is getting too serious. The purpose of this book is simply humor. And my goal is to make you smile. If this book has any point at all, other than humor, it might be the good that just a few good people can accomplish, and that people accomplish more when they work together. Other than that, it is all in fun. I truly hope others will enjoy reading this book as much as I enjoyed writing it. -Ron Plachno (author)

The Cellular explosion in the World Marketplace took our small $50 million a year car telephone business at Motorola and grew it rapidly to over a $15 billion a year huge enterprise. It was an amazing ride, and Motorola had some top talent that made it the leader in the field at least in the early years of Cellular. Yes, I indeed was at first one of the engineers and then one of the leaders in this dramatically expanding field. But more importantly, I was around some of the best leadership talent who helped teach me and others to deal with perhaps the business equivalent of riding white rapids down a raging river. The business experience in this book is not just relevant to the Cellular industry, but I believe transfers well to most other businesses - in my opinion. I have the highest admiration for some of those early leaders in Motorola Cellular and our great Industry Partners and learned much from them. And yes I also did learn some knowledge on my own, and often not the easy way. This book is my attempt to share that knowledge with others willing to read it. My purpose? I wish I knew these items at the beginning. It should not take 40 years to learn them. I do understand that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and that there are perhaps other ways to learn business excellence. But this is the learning I received as I grew rapidly in the Cellular Business explosion. I moved from a low paid starting engineer to a VP in a Fortune 500 Company and then to a Sr. VP in a California startup firm, and then to founding a few small businesses on my own. It has been... a fun ride.... and a tremendous learning experience. And I am now trying to share it with others as openly and honestly as I can. Thank you for reading this, and I indeed do wish you the very best. - Ron Plachno (author)

What is the fastest that humans have ever travelled? Do all Scientists agree that they understand gravity? Is the argument of Darwin versus Creationism a good argument on either side? Could some reality be in fact be an illusion as Einstein implied? This book tries to answer some of those questions, and how all truth we perhaps might believe, might actually exist together at the same time. The first two sections of this book speak to Science and Human Knowledge and how much do we humans really know? I have a science degree, but even I learned much in research while writing this book. I tried to begin this book with a completely open mind, since I believe that is how to seek truth. In some cases I found new things surprising - at least to me. In other cases, I just learned what some bright people in the past and current also think - which just made me smile. And I tried to write the book in such a simple manner that even I can understand it. After the first two sections, I do get into some theories of mine based on human knowledge and science in the beginning of the book. You are more than welcome to form other theories. Those ensuing discussions might even make life more interesting. Is the purpose of this book to convince you of something? No. It's goal is to make us all think, including me, and also to get our discussions into the 21st century. For some odd reason, some humans believe that other humans should never think about things that are important. Science has moved on. We no longer believe that the world has only four elements, Earth, Wind and Fire and Water. It is time to get up to speed with what humans have learned. And then ... comes the fun ... of deciding what theories based on that.... each of us wish to believe.

One morning in Texas in 1836 seemed to begin as most other mornings in Texas. But then the bugles and band of General Santa Anna played a song from Spain called “El degüello.“ The literal translation of this song might be "slit throat" or "beheading" but its meaning this day was that Santa Anna would allow no mercy to the men at the Alamo in Texas. While Santa Anna did have regard for women and children and did not harm either on purpose, the song played in Texas that morning was that every man in the Alamo would be killed, whether fighting or even after surrender. There would be no forgiveness. Two unlikely heroes decided that this massacre should have never happened. In order to stop it, however, they also had to ensure that nothing obvious in history changed along the way. But this is all fiction. It never happened. Or did it? How would we know? How would anyone know?

"Starting or Improving Your Business" is written to help those people just starting a business or who already in one and wish to improve it. It is based on my almost 50 years in industry, in large companies that I have worked for, and in small companies that I have started. While no book can guarantee that you can get rich, this book tries to mostly contain warnings of what to look for, how to plan, or what to avoid. No book ever covers anything, but it is my belief that this book covers some very important items for business that include both the very large businesses and the very tiny startups. There are just some of us that seem to have the word "entrepreneur" in our blood, regardless of how successful or not we become. There seems to be that challenge to business, to overcome the difficulties and then succeed, that seems not only good for us, but may also be fun at the same time. And even if we do just a bit, the satisfaction of trying something hard and accomplishing some of our goals makes some of us feel better about ourselves. And of course, our accomplishments may help others as well. The book includes some generalities that I have found along the way. And the book also includes some specific examples from the three large firms that I worked at, and also the more than 5 business startups that I attempted. Even if your business is different, some days it seems to me that there is often more the same than there is that is different, from business to business. That might explain the popularity of Small Business Associations, which at times, I was a part of. Whether or not you decide this book may have something important to you, if you are trying to start or improve a business, I do wish you the very best. I also wish that you also find some fun in doing that along the way.

This book "Becoming a One Person Band" gives advice and tips on how to help a person to go from being a keyboard player (or perhaps other musician) to becoming a one person band of 4 or even as many as 16 instruments. This approach does require a home recording studio and some information is provided in this book on possible approaches. However, there are of course many ways to do a home recording studio, and so this book concentrates more on technique and how perhaps to determine what notes or chords to play. What do you need? A recording studio of course. But also a desire to become your own one person band as a hobby or even more than a hobby. And while a musician who only plays guitar or non keyboards may go a distance into becoming your own band, keyboard background would be even more helpful. What kind of keyboard background would a person need? If a person has experience with piano, organ or accordion or simply a modern day keyboard or keyboard controller and has one already, that would be a great start. Why the emphasis on keyboards? Modern day midi systems or DAW (Digital Audio Workstations) often take their inputs from keyboards and with that can create many sounds and also sound effects. Yes, much can be done with guitars and perhaps just writing notes in for other parts, but keyboard experience is a great help. What talent is needed? It would be hard for me to define that. I never felt that I was anything special and yet I have accomplished a number of one person band songs with as many as 15 parts, and also enjoyed doing it. Of course if you have something of a music and band background and also some music theory background it is of course a big help. I do wish you the very best in your music endeavor, and hope that this book is at least a little helpful to you and your dreams or hobby. Ron Plachno (author)

In this 21st century, we are engulfed by tidal waves and tsunamis of information. Television, Internet, Public Speakers, and other media can either bring us great knowledge that the world has never seen before this time in history, or just give us instead false messages. Business commercials want us to buy their products, and political commercials want our votes. Added to this, some of the media may disagree so much as to say opposite seeming things. Clearly, when some news sources say opposite things, logically they all cannot be right. In fact, it is slightly possible that perhaps none of them are simply correct. How to survive in this confusion and still seek wisdom? While some people will simply believe what they hear, from one source, or multiple sources, others of us want more. And we have something more powerful than the media tidal waves. We can choose to be open minded and to think for ourselves. Many people seem to doubt the power of the human mind, and even their own thinking abilities. However, I find human thinking power often much greater than many people might imagine. There is perhaps more truth, more logic power, more ethics and morality in our own thinking than is easily available in the media. Trust in yourself. While there are some logic examples in this book, they are not the point. You may begin your own thinking, or have better inside information, and reach a different conclusion, and that is more than okay. That gives us thinking people something to discuss respectfully. The important thing is how we each can "Learn how to learn," and then perhaps become continuous students for our entire lives and seek wisdom. I find that people who achieve being open minded and think are often the brightest, the most fun to talk to, and also seldom are given to the disrespect and hate so prevalent in today’s society. And best wishes - Ron Plachno

Gain an better alternative to the card-counting strategy with "Progression Blackjack". This book offers a revolutionary strategy for novices to master the game and for veteran players to consider previous books and methods obsolete.

An essential guide to everything you need to stay sheltered, fed, healthy, and safe in the backcountry Organized around the six essentials of survival (shelter, water, food, fire, comfort and health, and navigation), Wilderness Survival Handbook covers 100 skills and techniques, including preserving fire, building pit shelters, toolmaking, stoneboiling cookery, and trapping and hunting animals with handmade tools and weapons. By mastering these skills, you will be able to survive with few tools or provisions in any wilderness setting--forest, plain, desert, or tundra--in nearly any part of the world.