For years, Microsoft and other high-tech companies have been posing riddles and logic puzzles like these in their notoriously grueling job interviews. Now "puzzle interviews" have become a hot new trend in hiring. From Wall Street to Silicon Valley, employers are using tough and tricky questions to gauge job candidates' intelligence, imagination, and problem-solving ability -- qualities needed to survive in today's hypercompetitive global marketplace. For the first time, William Poundstone reveals the toughest questions used at Microsoft and other Fortune 500 companies -- and supplies the...
For years, Microsoft and other high-tech companies have been posing riddles and logic puzzles like these in their notoriously grueling job interviews....
A humorous trivia book that has the official and final word on what qualifies as the coolest, the best, the toughest, the most, and of course the ultimate. Readers will enjoy learning which rollercoaster is the best, and what was the most ingenious college prank. Those are only a sample of this trivia book that will entertain all readers.
A humorous trivia book that has the official and final word on what qualifies as the coolest, the best, the toughest, the most, and of course the ulti...
Should you watch public television without pledging?...Exceed the posted speed limit?...Hop a subway turnstile without paying? These questions illustrate the so-called "prisoner's dilemma," a social puzzle that we all face every day. Though the answers may seem simple, their profound implications make the prisoner's dilemma one of the great unifying concepts of science. Watching players bluff in a poker game inspired John von Neumann father of the modern computer and one of the sharpest minds of the century to construct game theory, a mathematical study of conflict and deception. Game theory...
Should you watch public television without pledging?...Exceed the posted speed limit?...Hop a subway turnstile without paying? These questions illustr...
At least five U.S. presidential elections have been won by the second most popular candidate, but these results were not inevitable. In fact, such an unfair outcome need never happen again, and as William Poundstone shows in Gaming the Vote, the solution is lurking right under our noses.
In all five cases, the vote was upset by a "spoiler"--a minor candidate who took enough votes away from the most popular candidate to tip the election to someone else. The spoiler effect is more than a glitch. It is a consequence of one of the most surprising intellectual discoveries of the...
At least five U.S. presidential elections have been won by the second most popular candidate, but these results were not inevitable. In fact, such ...
Are you Smart Enough to Work at Google? guides readers through the surprising solutions to dozens of the most challenging interview questions. Learn the importance of creative thinking, how to get a leg up on the competition, what your Facebook page says about you, and much more. You are shrunk to the height of a nickel and thrown in a blender. The blades start moving in 60 seconds. What do you do? If you want to work at Google, or any of America's best companies, you need to have an answer to this and other puzzling questions. Are you Smart Enough to Work at...
Are you Smart Enough to Work at Google? guides readers through the surprising solutions to dozens of the most challenging interview question...
No winners, no losers, and no end the Game of Life, also known simply as Life, is no ordinary computer game. Created by British mathematician John Horton Conway in 1970, Life debuted in "Scientific American, " where it was hailed as the key to a new area of mathematical research, the field of cellular automata. Less of a game than a demonstration of logical possibilities, Life is based on simple rules and produces patterns of light and dark on computer screens that reflect the unpredictability, complexity, and beauty of the universe. This fascinating popular science journey explores Life's...
No winners, no losers, and no end the Game of Life, also known simply as Life, is no ordinary computer game. Created by British mathematician John Hor...
A practical guide to outguessing everything from multiple-choice tests to the office football pool to the stock market. People are predictable even when they try not to be. William Poundstone demonstrates how to turn this fact to personal advantage in scores of everyday situations, from playing the lottery to buying a home. ROCK BREAKS SCISSORS is mind-reading for real life. Will the next tennis serve go right or left? Will the market go up or down? Most people are poor at that kind of predicting. We are hard-wired to make bum bets on "trends" and "winning streaks"...
A practical guide to outguessing everything from multiple-choice tests to the office football pool to the stock market. People a...
The real-world value of knowledge in the mobile-device age. More people know who Khloe Kardashian is than who Rene Descartes was. Most can't find Delaware on a map, correctly spell the word occurrence, or name the largest ocean on the planet. But how important is it to fill our heads with facts? A few keystrokes can summon almost any information in seconds. Why should we bother learning facts at all? Bestselling author William Poundstone confronts that timely question in HEAD IN THE CLOUD. He shows that many areas of knowledge correlate with the quality of our lives--wealth,...
The real-world value of knowledge in the mobile-device age. More people know who Khloe Kardashian is than who Rene Descartes was. Most can'...