- Paperback: 328 pages
- Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing (April 1 2004)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0740738232
- ISBN-13: 978-0740738234
- Product Dimensions: 18.2 x 12.8 x 2.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 340 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #534,954 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
Product Description
To err is human. To really screw things up takes modern technology. To enjoy reading about the misfortunes of others at the hands of technology...all it takes is this book!
In addition to being one of the country's leading technology experts (he's co-authored more than 30 books), Rick Broadhead has had a life-long predilection for stories of the strange-but-true genre. In Dear Valued Customer: You are a Loser, he combines his two abiding passions to present an exhaustive, fascinating, and hysterical collection of technologically enabled blunders, bloopers, and mishaps.
Have you heard the story about the bank in Chicago whose computer made overnight multi-millionaires out of hundreds of its account holders? How about the man in California who was informed that he owed 39 trillion dollars in overdue library fines? Or the woman in New York state who claimed she was seeing the names of dead people on her caller-ID box?
The Most "F" words in a Disney movie, The Most Embarrassing Open Mike Gaffe by a Politician, The Strangest Discovery by an Airport Metal Detector (a woman discovered she had a surgical retractor in her stomach)..;.these and more than one hundred other bizarre stories will definitely keep readers uproariously enthralled.
About the Author
Rick Broadhead is a leading consultant, analyst, and professional speaker in the technology industry. He has co-authored more than 30 books on technology and the Internet. He lives in Toronto.
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Buy it. You won't regret it.,
This review is from: Dear Valued Customer, You Are a Loser: And Over 100 Other Embarrassing and Funny Stories of Technology Gone Mad (Paperback)
This is a "potato chip book." Once you try one (story) you can't stop. The humorous incidents described in this book are all neatly packaged in short 3-minute reads, with most articles being two or three pages in length. This is one of those books you keep in the bathroom or tucked into your pocket before a long flight. It would make a great gift for the "non-readers" on your list. Warning: do not pick it up if you have something to do. You'll find yourself still reading "just one more story" an hour or two later. Only qualm I had was that the sources, while cited, were not as specific as I would have liked in some instances.
4.0 out of 5 stars
"Illegal Operation: Tell-all Book Released",
By
This review is from: Dear Valued Customer, You Are a Loser: And Over 100 Other Embarrassing and Funny Stories of Technology Gone Mad (Paperback)
I picked up this book after hearing about it on the radio, and I'm glad I did. Being a heavy computer user, I have heard about some of the stories detailed in this book, but most of them just made my jaw drop as to how modern technology can screw up either by itself or by a human hitting the wrong button. So this book is highly recommended, but don't give it to any of your luddite friends. They'll use it to prove you right.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
3.5 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews) 4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great information security awareness tool,
By Dr. G. Hinson "Gary" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Dear Valued Customer, You Are a Loser: And Over 100 Other Embarrassing and Funny Stories of Technology Gone Mad (Paperback)
This fun little book offers an antidote to those misguided people who, I'm told, think information security is dreadfully boring. Its 315 small-format pages contain a collection of entertaining stories about "computer errors" and other IT-related glitches, drawn mostly from the general and IT press.Each story has been verified to some extent by the author although few sources are fully referenced. Most stories are less than 300 words long, just long enough to get the gist. There are numerous examples of information security breaches in the book, especially if one accepts that most data-entry errors are either the result of untrained, incompetent or careless computer users, or inadequate data entry validation. A typical example is the one about a Salomon Smith Barney trader who lent on the `instant sell' button on his keyboard one day and inadvertently placed on sale 14,500 French government bond contracts worth a staggering $1.3bn at a low price. Salomon managed to cancel the sell order but not until 10,000 contracts had been struck, leaving the company nursing a huge loss. I'd have been willing to bet, before the event, that Salomon's risk assessments and contingency plans did not even consider this kind of event. Do yours? Creative information security awareness managers, trainers and presenters use news stories like these to liven-up their training sessions, case studies, seminars, newsletters and intranet websites. Even people who hate IT enjoy the opportunity to laugh at the unfortunate victims of computer spoofs, stunts, accidents and failures. The trick is to use this kind of material to engage the audience and, while you have their attention, explain the underlying information security risk and control issues. At less than ten bucks, it's a genuine bargain. 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
"Illegal Operation: Tell-all Book Released",
By Jason Montgomery "Journ" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Dear Valued Customer, You Are a Loser: And Over 100 Other Embarrassing and Funny Stories of Technology Gone Mad (Paperback)
I picked up this book after hearing about it on the radio, and I'm glad I did. Being a heavy computer user, I have heard about some of the stories detailed in this book, but most of them just made my jaw drop as to how modern technology can screw up either by itself or by a human hitting the wrong button. So this book is highly recommended, but don't give it to any of your luddite friends. They'll use it to prove you right.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars
All the stories are basically the same,
By ratbert2k - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Dear Valued Customer, You Are a Loser: And Over 100 Other Embarrassing and Funny Stories of Technology Gone Mad (Paperback)
This book contains dozens of short stories about mistakes that businesses supposedly made (some of which are urban legends). Many of the stories are the same thing over and over again. How many different ways are there for companies to screw up account balances? At least ten, if you believe this book. One example would have been enough--the other nine were just repeats.Another thing that annoyed me was that the author does not know the proper meaning of the word "ironic." It gets a second star from me because a few of the stories are interesting and entertaining. |
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