When tech scavenger XĂch Si is captured and imprisoned by the infamous pirates of the Red Banner, she expects to be tortured or killed. Instead, their leader, Rice Fish, makes XĂch Si an utterly incredible proposition: an offer of marriage. Both have their reasons for this arrangement: XĂch Si needs protection; Rice Fish, a sentient spaceship, needs a technical expert to investigate the death of her first wife, the Red Scholar. That’s all there is to it.
But as the interstellar war against piracy rages on and their own investigation reaches a dire conclusion, the two of them discover that their arrangement has evolved into something much less business-focused and more personal...and tender. And maybe the best thing that’s ever happened to either of them—but only if they can find a way to survive together.
A rich space opera and an intensely soft romance, from an exceptional SF author.
Two things are certain with the shift in office structure: First, we will never go back to the way things were. Second, we all must learn to live in a virtual workplace. If we are managers, that means we also need to know how to communicate with, motivate, and coach virtual teams. In the words of Dale Carnegie, how do you win friends and influence people in a virtual office?
How to Win Friends and Manage Remotely shares real-life examples, scientifically proven ideas, and distillations of tried-and-true business tenets, including why expressing empathy is the most important factor in managing and working with others—all mapped to a new virtual-first office. This book is a handbook—a step-by-step guide to common interactions in the workplace using eight classic management examples: from digitizing your onboarding journey to helping new recruits and delivering useful feedback over video conference.
Combining academic research and personal experiences across various companies, roles, and countries, author McKenna Sweazey presents a roadmap to get us through the WFH (work from home) quagmire and help us all be more aware of others' perspectives in this brave new world.
In this exhilarating novel, two friends--often in love, but never lovers--come together as creative partners in the world of video game design, where success brings them fame, joy, tragedy, duplicity, and, ultimately, a kind of immortality.
On a bitter-cold day, in the December of his junior year at Harvard, Sam Masur exits a subway car and sees, amid the hordes of people waiting on the platform, Sadie Green. He calls her name. For a moment, she pretends she hasn't heard him, but then, she turns, and a game begins: a legendary collaboration that will launch them to stardom. These friends, intimates since childhood, borrow money, beg favors, and, before even graduating college, they have created their first blockbuster, Ichigo. Overnight, the world is theirs. Not even twenty-five years old, Sam and Sadie are brilliant, successful, and rich, but these qualities won't protect them from their own creative ambitions or the betrayals of their hearts.
Spanning thirty years, from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Venice Beach, California, and lands in between and far beyond, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is a dazzling and intricately imagined novel that examines the multifarious nature of identity, disability, failure, the redemptive possibilities in play, and above all, our need to connect: to be loved and to love.
For the first time in history, we have instantaneous access to the world's knowledge. There has never been a better time to learn, to contribute, and to improve ourselves. Yet, rather than feeling empowered, we are often left feeling overwhelmed by this constant influx of information. The very knowledge that was supposed to set us free has instead led to the paralyzing stress of believing we'll never know or remember enough.
Now, this eye-opening and accessible guide shows how you can easily create your own personal system for knowledge management, otherwise known as a Second Brain. As a trusted and organized digital repository of your most valued ideas, notes, and creative work synced across all your devices and platforms, a Second Brain gives you the confidence to tackle your most important projects and ambitious goals. Discover the full potential of your ideas and translate what you know into more powerful, more meaningful improvements in your work and life by Building a Second Brain.
We have never had so much information at our fingertips and yet most of us don't know how the world really works. This book explains seven of the most fundamental realities governing our survival and prosperity. From energy and food production, through our material world and its globalization, to risks, our environment and its future, How the World Really Works offers a much-needed reality check - because before we can tackle problems effectively, we must understand the facts.
In this ambitious and thought-provoking book we see, for example, that globalization isn't inevitable and that our societies have been steadily increasing their dependence on fossil fuels, making their complete and rapid elimination unlikely. Vaclav Smil is neither a pessimist nor an optimist, he is a scientist; he is the world-leading expert on energy and an astonishing polymath. This is his magnum opus and is a continuation of his quest to make facts matter. Drawing on the latest science, including his own fascinating research, and tackling sources of misinformation head on - from Yuval Noah Harari to Noam Chomsky - ultimately Smil answers the most profound question of our age: are we irrevocably doomed or is a brighter utopia ahead?
Tony Fadell, the leader of the teams that created the iPod, iPhone, and Nest Learning Thermostat, shares over 30 years of Silicon Valley experience in this unorthodox guide to making things worth making. Build is a mentor in a box, offering personal stories, practical advice, and insights into some of the most impactful products and people of the 20th century.
With quick entries that build on each other, Tony charts his journey from product designer to leader, startup founder, executive, and mentor. He uses captivating examples, such as the process of building the very first iPod and iPhone, to help readers tackle problems they're currently facing, from securing startup funding to managing workplace challenges.
Through his experiences with mentors like Steve Jobs and Bill Campbell, Tony advocates for old-school, unorthodox advice. He emphasizes that while human nature doesn't change, what we create can. His guidance focuses on leading and managing effectively, not reinventing the wheel, to make things worth making.
NATIONAL BESTSELLER - From the former Governor of the Bank of Canada, Stephen Poloz presents a far-seeing guide to the powerful economic forces that will shape the decades ahead. The economic ground is shifting, with increased volatility and widespread concern about financial futures. In this urgent and accessible guide, Poloz examines the crises and opportunities that lie ahead.
He identifies tectonic forces such as an aging workforce, mounting debt, rising income inequality, and technological advances that are disrupting employment, alongside climate change driving a transition to a lower-carbon economy. These forces have profound implications across various aspects of life, including work, housing, investment, government and central bank policy, and corporate roles in society. The pandemic has intensified many of these issues.
Poloz draws parallels with past economic crises, from the Victorian Depression to the 2008 downturn, to forecast the potential challenges and opportunities in the future. He suggests that the upcoming upheaval, unlike natural disasters, could provide chances for renewal and growth. This book is filled with insights for employers, investors, policymakers, and families, making it an essential resource for navigating the uncertain times ahead.
The Quiet Before: On the Unexpected Origins of Radical Ideas is an exploration of the formation of social movements through history and the role of technology in shaping them. Gal Beckerman, an editor at The New York Times Book Review, presents a narrative that spans from the 1600s to the present, examining how the quiet conception of revolutionary ideas in small, private groups has led to significant social changes, from the scientific revolution to the suffrage movement, and from feminism to modern-day epidemiology.
This book delves into the correspondence that ignited the scientific revolution, the petitions that won voting rights in 1830s Britain, the zines that expressed women's rage in the early 1990s, and the messaging apps utilized by epidemiologists during a pandemic. Beckerman highlights the importance of secluded spaces where radical ideas can incubate before reaching a wider audience and cautions that the prevalence of social media may be undermining these productive environments. By examining the successes and failures of movements like the Arab Spring, Occupy Wall Street, and Black Lives Matter, The Quiet Before offers insights into what current social media platforms lack and proposes ways to foster the growth of radical ideas in the future.