Masters Of Nothing

Behaviour is important. Whether this be the behaviour of those who saw it coming, or of those who constantly berated them. The behaviour of those who rode the boom and switched at the tipping point to ride the bust, or the behaviour of those who held on to their principled as the system collapsed around them. It was human behaviour after all, that led us to construct a bubble nobody suspected was dangerous, yet nonetheless would burst with disastrous consequences. Contrary to the views of many before the crash the cycle is inevitable - you cannot eliminate boom and bust. In a boom the bullish are promoted whilst the cautious are overlooked, reinforcing the cycle. This factor is generally ignored by the beautiful but flawed models of economic analysts. Since we cannot abolish the cycle, we must ensure that busts are not so dangerous in the future. The policy solutions are there if we're brave enough, from changing incentives, and creating fiscal and financial regulators with clout and discretion, through to changing corporate governance and shifting the power of executives.

This is a book about how we behave. Not how we think we behave, or how wed like to behave, but how we really do. Its a story of how a collective failure of perception helped cause one of the biggest crises in the history of capitalism; of the extraordinary extremes we witnessed from the so-called Masters of the Universe - their greed, recklessness, and irrationality; and of how the crisis will happen again unless we understand that economic conditions may change but human nature does not. Released to widespread acclaim in the UK in 2011 and now updated for the USA, Masters of Nothing is an important contribution to the ongoing debate about how we fix the relationship between big finance and the real economy.

Here is a provocative collection of essays by Philip Morrison, widely known for his work on the Manhattan project, and later for his involvement in quantum and nuclear physics and high energy astrophysics. Morrison offers a stimulating look at diverse subjects ranging from cosmology (particularly interstellar communication) to nuclear disarmament to creative ways of teaching science. He also offers his own perspective on his inspiring friendships with Niels Bohr, Richard Feynman, Bernard Peters, and other physics giants.

Masters of Doom is the amazing true story of the Lennon and McCartney of video games: John Carmack and John Romero. Together, they ruled big business. They transformed popular culture. And they provoked a national controversy. More than anything, they lived a unique and rollicking American Dream, escaping the broken homes of their youth to co-create the most notoriously successful game franchises in history—Doom and Quake—until the games they made tore them apart. Americans spend more money on video games than on movie tickets. Masters of Doom is the first book to chronicle this industry’s greatest story, written by one of the medium’s leading observers. David Kushner takes readers inside the rags-to-riches adventure of two rebellious entrepreneurs who came of age to shape a generation. The vivid portrait reveals why their games are so violent and why their immersion in their brilliantly designed fantasy worlds offered them solace. And it shows how they channeled their fury and imagination into products that are a formative influence on our culture, from MTV to the Internet to Columbine. This is a story of friendship and betrayal, commerce and artistry—a powerful and compassionate account of what it’s like to be young, driven, and wildly creative. “To my taste, the greatest American myth of cosmogenesis features the maladjusted, antisocial, genius teenage boy who, in the insular laboratory of his own bedroom, invents the universe from scratch. Masters of Doom is a particularly inspired rendition. Dave Kushner chronicles the saga of video game virtuosi Carmack and Romero with terrific brio. This is a page-turning, mythopoeic cyber-soap opera about two glamorous geek geniuses—and it should be read while scarfing down pepperoni pizza and swilling Diet Coke, with Queens of the Stone Age cranked up all the way.”—Mark Leyner, author of I Smell Esther Williams

In the dystopian future of the twenty-second century governments have collapsed and corporations have joined together to create a new world order called corporate rule. Veteran and businessman Troy Vincent, is wrongly accused of murdering a powerful CEO in a world where a cruel and corrupt justice system has emerged. He is sentenced to face termination by his own demons in the feared Virtual Reality Chambers. Before embarking into dark and dangerous worlds, Troy is befriended by an android who advises him to seek help from the elusive Grief Masters. A beautiful condemned woman is thrown into Troy’s surreal world. Together they must unravel the truth behind the crimes they are convicted of, while fighting the treacherous forces that promise to destroy them. Their only hope of survival lies in hidden keys to the Grief Masters. However, finding a key means digging deep into their shattered inner souls. As the android tries to help them, he faces his own destruction and an unexpected meeting with the ultimate Grief Master.

Surrender to sinful pleasures and forbidden passions with Masters of Seduction, the sizzling new paranormal romance novella series from "New York Times" and internationally bestselling authors Lara Adrian, Donna Grant, Laura Wright and Alexandra Ivy. "In the realm of the Incubi Masters, pleasure is to die for and love is the deadliest game of all . . ." Merciless: House of Gravori by Lara Adrian Seeking vengeance for the murder of his brother, Incubus Master Devlin Gravori demands justice from the high court of the Nephilim. But fury and retribution are no match for the consuming desire he feels for Nahiri, the beautiful Nephilim warrior he claims as his hostage. Soulless: House of Romerac by Donna Grant Incubus Master Canaan Romerac is focused solely on revenge against those who betrayed him and put him in the Oubliette for five hundred years. That is until he sets eyes on Rayna. Can the beautiful Nephilim heal Canaan's wounded soul before it's too late? Shameless: House of Vipera by Laura Wright Sexy Incubus Master Scarus Vipera has grown weak, and the only thing that will strengthen him again is Rosamund, the power-rich female of the Harem. But the mysterious Nephilim is determined to leave the Harem untouched, her heart intact. Ruthless: House of Xanthe by Alexandra Ivy Jian, Master of the House Xanthe, has devoted his life to returning his family to their former prominence. When he's offered a contract to hunt down the missing Sovereign, he's eager to accept. The last thing he expects is to encounter a stunningly beautiful angel who stirs more than his lust.

This frank account by a longtime Zen student looks back over a journey that began in Berkeley in the heady sixties when the author experimented with psychedelics and started to study with Suzuki Roshi, who encouraged his students to find a genuine way of practicing Zen.

Of all the games ever played in a sporting competition, never has an event been so bizarre and yet so fitting for its historical moment: the 1968 Masters. Anger gripped America's heart in April 1968. Vietnam and a bitter presidential contest sharpened the divides between races and generations, while protests and violence poisened the air. Then an assassin's bullet took the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Cities burned. The smoke had barely cleared when the Masters began. Never was the country more ready for distraction and escape--but could the orderly annual excitement of Palmer versus Nicklaus provide it? For a while, it could and it did--except that instead of a duel between golf's superstars, several unlikely members of the chorus stepped forward with once-in-a-lifetime performances. There was blunt-talking Bob Goalby, a truck driver's son from Illinois and former star football player; loveable Roberto De Vicenzo from Argentina, who charmed the galleries and media all week; and Bert Yancey, a Floridian who'd dropped out of West Point to face his private demons of mental illness. Just as the competition reached a thrilling crescendo, it all fell apart. The Masters, the best-run tournament in the world, devolved into a heart-wrenching tangle of rules, responsibility, and technicality. In a fascinating narrative that stops in Augusta, Buenos Aires, and Belleville, Illinois, bestselling author Curt Sampson finds the truth behind The Lost Masters. It's a story you'll never forget.