Designing and making cars is an expensive thing to do. So is racing them. All told, the car business spends billions every year and with such vast sums at stake you’d think the people involved wouldn’t give desk space to Captain Cockup. Sadly, you would be wrong. Every department in every car firm and motorsport operation is capable of complete and abject failure, and on a surprisingly regular basis. Which is what this book is about. You see, Top Gear knows a thing or two about embarrassing mistakes, as anyone who watched our India special will know. The truth is, for many years Top Gear has also regarded failure as funny. Where other television programmes edit out the moment where the presenter falls over or slams their hand in a door, Top Gear gleefully leaves it in. So who better to take you on a gentle canter through 50 of the car world’s biggest and most glorious failures? That’s right, it’s Top Gear. Who else did you think? If you want this sort of stuff from Countryfile you might be in for a wait.

The president who left the nuclear launch codes in a suit at the dry cleaners. The novelist who put the orange juice outside and the kitten in the refrigerator. The Russian general who left home in full military dress . . . minus his pants. The famous sex goddess who blew the same line through 52 takes. And the rock star who no longer remembers 1975. Filled with classic lapses, gaffes, and mental bloopers, 1,000 Unforgettable Senior Moments is a fabulous and witty gift for anyone of a certain age. And now it is updated, revised with more than 20 percent new stories, and repackaged in two color, making it an even more vibrant, visually appealing, fresh, and compellingly readable book. Anyone who’s ever had a mental lapse will empathize with relative spring chicken Nicki Minaj, who, while accepting a BET Viewers’ Choice Award, forgot why she was receiving the statuette (on live national television, no less). Or the team of astrophysicists who believed they had discovered proof of alien life—only to discover the signals were coming from the lunchroom microwave. Here’s a best man forgetting to show up at the wedding, a musician leaving his priceless cello in a cab, the bank robber who wrote a holdup note on a paycheck stub that had his name and address printed on it, and the Fox studio chief who, when pressed by his leading lady to remember her name, offered “. . . Cleopatra?”

Offers a window into the vanity and silliness of almost every decade as expressed by the ultimate status symbol of the car, showcasing the cheapest, tackiest, and most mechanically inept vehicles built from the 1960s to the 1990s.

“A riveting account that reaches beyond the market landscape to say something universal about risk and triumph, about hubris and failure.”—The New York Times NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY BUSINESSWEEK In this business classic—now with a new Afterword in which the author draws parallels to the recent financial crisis—Roger Lowenstein captures the gripping roller-coaster ride of Long-Term Capital Management. Drawing on confidential internal memos and interviews with dozens of key players, Lowenstein explains not just how the fund made and lost its money but also how the personalities of Long-Term’s partners, the arrogance of their mathematical certainties, and the culture of Wall Street itself contributed to both their rise and their fall. When it was founded in 1993, Long-Term was hailed as the most impressive hedge fund in history. But after four years in which the firm dazzled Wall Street as a $100 billion moneymaking juggernaut, it suddenly suffered catastrophic losses that jeopardized not only the biggest banks on Wall Street but the stability of the financial system itself. The dramatic story of Long-Term’s fall is now a chilling harbinger of the crisis that would strike all of Wall Street, from Lehman Brothers to AIG, a decade later. In his new Afterword, Lowenstein shows that LTCM’s implosion should be seen not as a one-off drama but as a template for market meltdowns in an age of instability—and as a wake-up call that Wall Street and government alike tragically ignored. Praise for When Genius Failed “[Roger] Lowenstein has written a squalid and fascinating tale of world-class greed and, above all, hubris.”—BusinessWeek “Compelling . . . The fund was long cloaked in secrecy, making the story of its rise . . . and its ultimate destruction that much more fascinating.”—The Washington Post “Story-telling journalism at its best.”—The Economist

Fast-paced history-cum-memoir about rock climbing in the wild-and-wooly ’80s Highlights ground-breaking achievements from the era Hangdog Days vividly chronicles the era when rock climbing exploded in popularity, attracting a new generation of talented climbers eager to reach new heights via harder routes and faster ascents. This contentious, often entertaining period gave rise to sport climbing, climbing gyms, and competitive climbing--indelibly transforming the sport. Jeff Smoot was one of those brash young climbers, and here he traces the development of traditional climbing “rules,” enforced first through peer pressure, then later through intimidation and sabotage. In the late ’70s, several climbers began introducing new tactics including “hangdogging,” hanging on gear to practice moves, that the old guard considered cheating. As more climbers broke ranks with traditional style, the new gymnastic approach pushed the limits of climbing from 5.12 to 5.13. When French climber Jean-Baptiste Tribout ascended To Bolt or Not to Be, 5.14a, at Smith Rock in 1986, he cracked a barrier many people had considered impenetrable. In his lively, fast-paced history enriched with insightful firsthand experience, Smoot focuses on the climbing achievements of three of the era’s superstars: John Bachar, Todd Skinner, and Alan Watts, while not neglecting the likes of Ray Jardine, Lynn Hill, Mark Hudon, Tony Yaniro, and Peter Croft. He deftly brings to life the characters and events of this raucous, revolutionary time in rock climbing, exploring, as he says, “what happened and why it mattered, not only to me but to the people involved and those who have followed.”

The Standards of Conduct Office of the Department of Defense General Counsel's Office has assembled an "encyclopedia" of cases of ethical failure for use as a training tool. These are real examples of Federal employees who have intentionally or unwittingly violated standards of conduct. Some cases are humorous, some sad, and all are real. Some will anger you as a Federal employee and some will anger you as an American taxpayer. Note the multiple jail and probation sentences, fines, employment terminations and other sanctions that were taken as a result of these ethical failures. Violations of many ethical standards involve criminal statutes. This updated (end of 2009) edition is organized by type of violations, including conflicts of interest, misuse of Government equipment, violations of post-employment restrictions, and travel.

We learn more from failures than we do from successes. When something goes as expected, we use that process as a mental template for future projects. Success actually stunts the learning process because we think we have established a successful pattern, even after just one instance of success. It is a flawed confirmation that "This is the correct way to do it," which has a tendency to morph into "This is the only way to do it."Real learning comes through crisis.If something goes wrong, horribly wrong, we have to scramble, experiment, hack, scream and taze our way through the process. Our minds flail for new ideas, are more willing to experiment, are more open to external input when we're in crisis mode.The Genesis of an IdeaThat's where the idea for this book came from. When I was in Singapore for DevSecOps Days 2018. Edwin Kwan, Stefan Streichsbier and DJ Schleen were swapping war stories over a couple of beers.The conclusion of their evening of telling tales was the desire to find a way to get those stories out to the community. They spoke with me about putting together a team of authors who would tell their own stories in the hope of helping the DevSecOps Community understand that failure is an option.Yes. You read that right. Failure is an option.Failure is part of the process of making the cultural and technological transformation that needs to happen in order to keep innovating. It is part of the journey to DevSecOps. The stories presented here aren't a roadmap. What they do is acknowledge failure as a part of the knowledge base of the DevSecOps Community.The days of stand-alone security teams isolated from the real process of development are coming to an end. Paraphrasing Caroline Wong, "Security needs to be invited to the party, not perceived as a goon standing at the front door denying admission." With DevSecOps, security is now part of the team.After reading these stories, we hope you will realize you are not alone in your journey. Not only are you not alone, there are early adopters who have gone before you, not exactly "hacking a trail through the swamp,"but at least marking the booby traps, putting flags next to the quick-sandpits and holding up a 'Dragons be here' sign at perilous cave openings

Whose truth is the lie? Stay up all night reading the sensational psychological thriller that has readers obsessed, from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Too Late and It Ends With Us. #1 New York Times Bestseller · USA Today Bestseller · Globe and Mail Bestseller · Publishers Weekly Bestseller Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts the job offer of a lifetime. Jeremy Crawford, husband of bestselling author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife is unable to finish. Lowen arrives at the Crawford home, ready to sort through years of Verity’s notes and outlines, hoping to find enough material to get her started. What Lowen doesn’t expect to uncover in the chaotic office is an unfinished autobiography Verity never intended for anyone to read. Page after page of bone-chilling admissions, including Verity's recollection of the night her family was forever altered. Lowen decides to keep the manuscript hidden from Jeremy, knowing its contents could devastate the already grieving father. But as Lowen’s feelings for Jeremy begin to intensify, she recognizes all the ways she could benefit if he were to read his wife’s words. After all, no matter how devoted Jeremy is to his injured wife, a truth this horrifying would make it impossible for him to continue loving her.

A classic underdog story about a local band that almost hits the big time. Everyone knows the price of fame. Hitless Wonder measures the price of obscurity. What happens when you chase a dream into middle age and, in doing so, risk losing the people you love?