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For $9.95 a month, you could see a movie every single day. It was the deal of the century for consumers, and a suicide mission for the company. MoviePass became the fastest-growing subscription service in history, gaining millions of users in months. There was just one problem: They paid the theaters full price for every ticket. The more customers used the product, the faster the company died."Burn Rate" is the wild story of Mitch Lowe and Ted Farnsworth, who tried to "blitzscale" their way to a monopoly by selling dollar bills for ten cents. It is a modern parable of Silicon Valley hubris, data-mining dreams, and the insanity of the "growth at all costs" mindset. Learn how they tried to stop users from going to the movies by changing passwords and blocking screenings, all while the ship went down in flames.

LIBOR (London Interbank Offered Rate) sounds boring. It is just a number. But it is the number that determines the interest rate on $350 trillion of global assetsfrom your mortgage to student loans to the price of derivatives. For years, the world assumed this number was set by market forces.In reality, it was set by a group of traders in London chat rooms, trading favors for champagne and sushi. "Interest Lies" details the LIBOR scandal, arguably the biggest financial fraud in history. It reveals how Tom Hayes and a network of brokers ("The Spider Network") manipulated the global economy for tiny personal bonuses, and how the banking system was so broken that cheating became the only way to survive. A story of greed, math, and the terrifying fragility of the global financial system.

For decades, medical consensus was absolute: stress and spicy food cause ulcers. The stomach is too acidic for anything to live in it. Barry Marshall, a young Australian doctor, disagreed. He found a strange bacteria (H. pylori) in ulcer patients. The medical establishment laughed at him. He was ridiculed at conferences and ignored by journals.Frustrated and desperate, Marshall did the unthinkable: he took a beaker of the bacteria from a sick patients gut and drank it. Within days, he began to vomit and developed the very disease he was studying. This book tells the incredible story of how one mans dangerous self-experiment overturned a century of medical dogma, cured millions of chronic pain, and eventually won him a Nobel Prize. A testament to the fact that science advances one funeralor one vomitat a time.

Imagine dying, and your employer receives a million-dollar check, while your family gets nothing. For decades, major corporations like Walmart and Winn-Dixie took out life insurance policies on their low-level employeesjanitors, cashiers, and clerkswithout their knowledge. They called it "Corporate-Owned Life Insurance" (COLI). The industry called it "Dead Peasant Insurance."This explosive investigative book traces the history of how companies turned their workforce into a financial portfolio where an employee was worth more dead than alive. It explores the legal loopholes, the whistleblower cases, and the moral vacuum of a financial system that incentivized corporations to profit from the mortality of their own people. A chilling look at the intersection of actuarial science and human dignity.

Beginning with his A Treatise of Human Nature (1739), Hume strove to create a total naturalistic "science of man" that examined the psychological basis of human nature. In stark opposition to the rationalists who preceded him, most notably Descartes, he concluded that desire rather than reason governed human behaviour, saying:"Reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions". A prominent figure in the sceptical philosophical tradition and a strong empiricist, he argued against the existence of innate ideas, concluding instead that humans have knowledge only of things they directly experience..NOTHING is more usual and more natural for those, who pretend to discover anything new to the world in philosophy and the sciences, than to insinuate the praises of their own systems, by decrying all those, which have been advanced before them. And indeed were they content with lamenting that ignorance, which we still lie under in the most important questions, that can come before the tribunal of human reason, there are few, who have an acquaintance with the sciences, that would not readily agree with them.

Every year, dozens of perfectly healthy tourists arrive in Jerusalem and suddenly decide they are John the Baptist, the Virgin Mary, or the Messiah himself. They wrap themselves in hotel bedsheets, march to the Wailing Wall, and begin to preach. This is not a metaphor; it is a clinically recognized acute psychotic state known as "Jerusalem Syndrome."This book explores the fascinating psychology behind this phenomenon. Why does this specific city trigger a mental break in people with no history of mental illness? Is it the intensity of the history, the religious pressure, or something deeper in the human psyche that craves divine purpose? Through case studies of "prophets" escorted to the hospital by police, we learn how fragile our identity really is when confronted with the weight of faith.

In 2016, "No Mans Sky" launched to a fury rarely seen in gaming history. Hello Games had promised an infinite, procedurally generated universe filled with life. Players found empty planets and broken mechanics. The hype train derailed, resulting in death threats, lawsuits, and the title of "biggest scam in gaming."But then, something unprecedented happened. Instead of taking the money and running, the developers went silent. For years, they released massive, free updates, rebuilding the game brick by brick until it finally matchedand exceededthe original vision. This is the definitive story of the "Engoodening of No Mans Sky," a masterclass in crisis management, resilience, and the rare integrity of fixing your mistakes when the whole world hates you.

We invest billions in "brain training" games and learning Latin, believing these difficult tasks will make us smarter in general. We are wrong. The concept is called "Transfer of Learning," and the scientific reality is depressing: getting good at Sudoku only makes you good at Sudoku. It does not help you manage your finances or learn a language."Chess Masters Cant Cook" explores the cognitive barriers that prevent skills from transferring between domains. It explains why experts in one field can be completely incompetent in another and debunks the myth of the "general genius." However, it also offers a solution: the specific teaching methods (like bridging and abstraction) that can force the brain to apply old knowledge to new problems. Stop practicing the wrong things and start learning how to learn.

This booklet entitled "Love Songs in the Shadow of the Quran" is the upcoming metamorphosis of the poetry book "Love in the Shadow of the Quran".... For the beloved woman, devotion is the cornerstone of conjugal union, experienced in the shadow of the Quran. This union occurs after the loving man in this fairy tale imbued with Quranic symbols moves into the lake of conjugal union with the personified devotion that had broken into his garden..... For the beloved woman, poetry is not dead, but alive. However, poetry has gone through a metamorphosis since the beloved man has started to believe in the death of poetry. However, the beloved woman does not give up. With her rational thinking, on which her entire philosophy of love in the shadow of the Quran is based, she analyses the views of the beloved man and notices that he is silent and sees the images of their future love. And the beloved man enjoys these pictures.The beloved woman also wants to see these pictures. But she cant draw. So, she decides to look for inspiring photos. Some of the images and symbols of the book come from the Quran, in particular from the Surat ar-rahman, while others are images from nature, as is the case, for example, with the lake of the conjugal union. The last symbols of the collection, such as for example the butterfly, come from the "West-Eastern Divan" by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who was inspired by the Persian poet Hafiz, according to the motto "If Islam means submission to Allah, then in Islam we all live and in Islam we all die"..... The song symbolizes the acoustic essence of Quranic love.... An important conclusion of the book is also the clear opposition to any kind of narcissistic love in the name of a deep spiritual and mystical love of two soul-mates who learn to love and love each other intimately in the shadow of the Quran.... in the last poem, the heart of the loving woman remains open to a new, growing love in the shadow of Allahs wisdom.

This new edition contains quotations from the literature of the periods covered, from the Apocrypha, Philo, Josephus and the Mishna. Three chapters have been added, two on "Stories and Sayings of the Sages of the Talmud" and one on "Rabbi Judah and his times."Other chapters have been placed in more logical sequence. Both the Chronological Tables and the Notes are fuller. A new feature has been introduced in a "theme for discussion" at the close of each chapter that may be found helpful to study circles and Chautauqua societies. This has also been introduced in the recently issued "Modern Jewish History."The author expresses his grateful indebtedness to Dr. David de Sola Pool for a most careful reading of the manuscript and for many corrections and suggestions; also to Mr. Philip Cowen for the aid rendered in collecting the illustrations. The author has availed himself of writings that have appeared on this epoch since the edition of 1904. He hopes he has succeeded in producing a more readable book.

Do you know how a toilet works? You probably said "yes." Now, take a piece of paper and draw the mechanism inside the tank. Explain exactly how the flush happens. Most people fail this test. They draw impossible machines. This is the "Illusion of Explanatory Depth." We mistake our familiarity with objects for an understanding of how they function.This book explores why we are all much dumber than we think we are. We outsource our knowledge to the world around usto other people, to the internet, to the environmentyet we retain the feeling that the knowledge is in our own heads. Understanding this illusion is key to intellectual humility. It explains why political arguments are so polarized (people think they understand policies they cant explain) and how forcing someone to explain the "how" rather than the "why" softens extreme views.

Barings Bank was the oldest merchant bank in London. It financed the Napoleonic Wars and held the Queens money. In 1995, it was sold for 1. Why? Because a 28-year-old trader named Nick Leeson had secretly lost $1.3 billion betting on the Japanese stock market.Leeson wasnt an evil genius; he was a frantic young man trying to hide a small mistake in a secret account numbered "88888". As the losses grew, he doubled down, hoping for a miracle, while his bosses in London praised his "profits." This book details the psychological pressure of the "Doubling Down" fallacy and the total failure of corporate oversight. It is a terrifying look at how a single unchecked employee can bring down a 233-year-old institution.

The two strangers remained standing by the door, which was closed quietly behind them. They seemed to be waiting for the mild sensation caused by their appearance to subside before advancing into the room. Maskull was a kind of giant, but of broader and more robust physique than most giants. He wore a full beard. His features were thick and heavy, coarsely modelled, like those of a wooden carving; but his eyes, small and black, sparkled with the fires of intelligence and audacity. His hair was short, black, and bristling.Night-spore was of middle height, but so tough-looking that he appeared to be trained out of all human frailties and susceptibilities. His hairless face seemed consumed by an intense spiritual hunger, and his eyes were wild and distant. Both men were dressed in tweeds.Before any words were spoken, a loud and terrible crash of falling masonry caused the assembled party to start up from their chairs in consternation. It sounded as if the entire upper part of the building had collapsed. Faull sprang to the door, and called to the servant to say what was happening. The man had to be questioned twice before he gathered what was required of him.

This fantastically precise misconception was based upon a too literal interpretation of the Hebrew Bible, and upon rather arbitrary theological assumptions connected therewith. Such ideas have long since been abandoned by religious teachers, and it is universally recognized that the universe in which we live has to all appearances existed for an enormous period of time and possibly for endless time. Of course there may be deception in these appearances, as a room may be made to seem endless by putting mirrors facing each other at either end.But that the universe in which we live has existed only for six or seven thousand years may be regarded as an altogether exploded idea.The earth, as everybody knows nowadays, is a spheroid, a sphere slightly compressed, orange fashion, with a diameter of nearly 8,000 miles. Its spherical shape has been known at least to a limited number of intelligent people for nearly 2,500 years, but before that time it was supposed to be flat, and various ideas which now seem fantastic were entertained about its relations to the sky and the stars and planets.

It started as a Kickstarter campaign and became a religion. "Star Citizen" has raised over half a billion dollars from fans, promising a virtual universe of unprecedented scale. Yet, over a decade later, it remains in development hell, a patchwork of stunning tech demos and broken promises. This is not just a story about a video game; it is a case study in "Feature Creep," the sunk cost fallacy, and the dangerous power of selling dreams.We explore how Chris Roberts convinced millions to pay for digital spaceships that didnt exist, and why backers defend the project with cult-like fervor despite the delays. This book dissects the blurry line between visionary ambition and management disaster, showing what happens when a project has infinite funding but no deadlines.

A runaway trolley is barreling down a track. Ahead, five people are tied to the rails. You stand next to a lever. If you pull it, the trolley switches to a side track where only one person is tied. Do you pull the lever? This simple thought experiment, known as the Trolley Problem, has obsessed philosophers for decades. But with the rise of self-driving cars and AI, it has moved from the classroom to the boardroom."Tracks of Morality" dissects the history and implications of this dilemma. It moves beyond the binary choice to explore what our answers reveal about us. Are we Utilitarians, counting lives like currency? Or Deontologists, refusing to actively kill even to save many? The book explores variations of the problemthe "Fat Man," the "Loop"and applies them to modern crises, from triage in pandemics to algorithmic programming. A primer on ethics that feels like a thriller.

In the 1990s, Pepsi ran a commercial: Buy soda, get points, redeem points for cool stuff. T-shirts, sunglasses... and for 7 million points, a Harrier Jump Jet. It was obviously a joke. Or was it? John Leonard, a 21-year-old business student, did the math. He realized he could buy the points for $700,000a steal for a $23 million military aircraft.He raised the money. He sent the check. Pepsi panicked. The ensuing legal battle, Leonard v. Pepsico, became a landmark case in contract law. This book is a hilarious and insightful look at the "Cola Wars," the psychology of audacious marketing, and the moment a corporation realized that if you promise the world to a clever student, he might actually try to collect it.

"Lord of the Flies" is fiction. The wreck of the Batavia is history, and it is infinitely worse. In 1629, the Dutch East India Company ship Batavia wrecked off the coast of Australia. Over 200 survivors swam to a tiny coral island. Among them was Jeronimus Cornelisz, a bankrupt pharmacist and a heretic with a silver tongue.While the commander went for help in a longboat, Cornelisz established a reign of terror. He didnt just want to survive; he wanted to play God. He convinced his followers to massacre 125 men, women, and children to save resources, turning the island into a slaughterhouse. This is the harrowing story of how quickly civilization crumbles when a psychopath takes charge in a vacuum, and the incredible rescue mission that raced against time to stop the killing.

On a freezing November night in 1120, the "White Ship" set sail from Normandy to England. On board was William Adelin, the only legitimate son of King Henry I, along with the flower of English nobility. They were young, rich, and hopelessly drunk. They urged the captain to overtake the Kings ship. Instead, they hit a rock.The sinking of the White Ship was the medieval Titanic. In minutes, the future of the English crown drowned. This single event triggered "The Anarchy"a terrifying civil war that ravaged England for decades because there was no heir to the throne. This book reconstructs the party, the crash, and the chaos that followed, showing how a single moment of drunken recklessness can rewrite the history of a nation for centuries.

A Tale of Two Cities (1859) is a novel by Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. With well, it ranks among the most famous works in the history of fictional literature.The novel depicts the plight of the French peasantry demoralized by the French aristocracy in the years leading up to the revolution, the corresponding brutality demonstrated by the revolutionaries toward the former aristocrats in the early years of the revolution, and many unflattering social parallels with life in London during the same time period. It follows the lives of several protagonists through these events.The most notable are Charles Darnay and Sydney Carton. Darnay is a former French aristocrat who falls victim to the indiscriminate wrath of the revolution despite his virtuous nature, and Carton is a dissipated English barrister who endeavors to redeem his ill-spent life out of his unrequited love for Darnays wife..