Hugh Thompson, Ph.D.

“Sullivan and Thompson have identified a phenomenon that plagues us all, robbing us of energy, delight, and successful results. Poignant stories, intriguing information, and insightful advice make this a must-read for any of us that want easier ways to keep the important fires lit. Warning: they’ve nailed stuff close to home for all of us!”
—David Allen, NYT Bestselling author of Getting Things Done

“Uncovering forces like the Greedy Algorithm that create plateaus in our lives is a… Show more

“Sullivan and Thompson have identified a phenomenon that plagues us all, robbing us of energy, delight, and successful results. Poignant stories, intriguing information, and insightful advice make this a must-read for any of us that want easier ways to keep the important fires lit. Warning: they’ve nailed stuff close to home for all of us!”
—David Allen, NYT Bestselling author of Getting Things Done

“Uncovering forces like the Greedy Algorithm that create plateaus in our lives is a great service, but Bob Sullivan and Hugh Thompson go much further. Their book is an entertaining and valuable guide that will show you how to quit the struggle and get up off the ground.”
—Daniel Pink, NYT Bestselling author of Drive and A Whole New Mind

“You already know what the plateau effect is. No matter what the endeavor, we've all experienced that feeling of diminishing returns from our efforts. Now Bob Sullivan and Hugh Thompson present the definitive guide for those who believe things can get a lot better and want to rise above their plateaus. Turn your back on the daily grind for good. Read this book now.”
—Ori Brafman, NYT Bestselling coauthor of Sway

The Plateau Effect shows how athletes, scientists, therapists, companies, and musicians around the world are learning to break through their plateaus—to turn off the forces that cause people to “get used to” things—and turn on human potential and happiness in ways that seemed impossible. The book identifies three key flattening forces that generate plateaus, two principles to guide readers in engineering a plateau’s destruction, and three actions to take to achieve peak behavior. It helps us to stop wasting time on things that are no longer of value and to focus on the things that leverage our time and energy in spectacular ways.

Anything you want to do better—play guitar, make friends, communicate with your children, run a business—you can accomplish faster by understanding the plateau effect. Show less

In today's market, secure software is a must for consumers. Many developers, however, are not familiar with the techniques needed to produce secure code or detect existing vulnerabilities. The Software Vulnerability Guide helps developers and testers better understand the underlying security flaws in software and provides an easy-to-use reference for security bugs. Most of these bugs (and the viruses, worms, and exploits that derive from them) start out as programmer mistakes. With this guide… Show more

In today's market, secure software is a must for consumers. Many developers, however, are not familiar with the techniques needed to produce secure code or detect existing vulnerabilities. The Software Vulnerability Guide helps developers and testers better understand the underlying security flaws in software and provides an easy-to-use reference for security bugs. Most of these bugs (and the viruses, worms, and exploits that derive from them) start out as programmer mistakes. With this guide, professional programmers and testers will learn how to find, fix, and prevent these vulnerabilities before their software reaches the market. Detailed explanations and examples are provided for each of the vulnerabilities, as well as a summary sheet that can be referenced quickly. Tools that make it easier to recognize and prevent vulnerabilities are also explored, and source code snippets, commentary, and techniques are provided in easy-to-read sidebars. This guide is a must have for today's software developers. Show less

How to Break Software Security describes the general problem of software security in a practical perspective from a software tester's point of view. It defines prescriptive techniques (attacks that testers can use on their own software) that are designed to ferret out security vulnerabilities in software applications. The book's style is easy to read and provides readers with the techniques and advice to hunt down security bugs and see that they're destroyed before the software is released… Show more

How to Break Software Security describes the general problem of software security in a practical perspective from a software tester's point of view. It defines prescriptive techniques (attacks that testers can use on their own software) that are designed to ferret out security vulnerabilities in software applications. The book's style is easy to read and provides readers with the techniques and advice to hunt down security bugs and see that they're destroyed before the software is released. Accompanying the book is a CD-ROM containing Holodeck, which tests for security vulnerabilities. There are also a number of bug-finding tools, freeware, and an easy-to-use port scanner included on the CD-ROM. Show less