No comments about Harnessing AutoCAD 2008 Exercise Manual.

2 comments about Programming Mental Ray (Mental Ray Handbooks) (mental ray® Handbooks).

1. there's not really anything to love or hate about this book. it's merely the documentation for the renderer. in reference to the previous review, this book IS available in html form if you purchase mental ray standalone, and it is also bundled with the docs of most 3d applications that include mental ray as a built-in renderer, such as Maya or XSI. buy it if you like to have a hard-copy of your docs around.
   
   the book includes a cd with all the example shaders as well as some additional resources that mental ray programmers might find useful. overall, it is a very thorough, no-nonsense, documentation of the mental ray renderer.



2. This book should've been a free html file. There is too many structs and sample codes reprinted in the book itself. I was interested in extracting lightmaps from mental ray, but the sdk that comes with it has this feature disabled.

No comments about Architecture Materials Glass (Architecture Materials).

No comments about Autodesk Inventor 7: Basics Through Advanced.

3 comments about Parametric Modeling with Mechanical Desktop Version 4 MultiMedia Tutorial.

1. This book will take you from knowing nothing about autocad or MDT to the point where you feel confident modeling. It is too the point with good exersises and layout. Very easy to understand. The only point it lost me is when it had me draw a title block to for representing a 2D drawing. I belive they assumed that you knew autocad before hand only in that instance but it was not vital. Further reading will be desired to learn more advanced techniques after you are finished. This program could not be summed up in one book anyhow it is too massive.



2. I got two MDT4 books and I am very surprised how good this book is. At the first glance, the other MDT book appeared to have a nicer cover, but that is all. This book, Parametric Modeling with MDT 4, covered the important aspects of how to use MDT with practical examples. The other book covered only about 40% of the material covered in this book. I strongly recommend this book. The content of this book is definitely superior.



3. The lesssons are in simple terms and short, to the point. They are easy to understand for users with little to zero experience. Try out the first lesson by downloading it on line. You will be plesantly surprised!

No comments about Steel Structures: Controlling Behavior Through Design.

4 comments about Regenerative Design Techniques: Practical Applications in Landscape Design.

1. If you want to get a broad basic understanding of 1 - the basic models of todays systems of how we as humans are affecting the basic ecologoical systems we have on earth (without trying to go into any detail) and then 2 - how as a design consultant/architect/a home owner wishing to create a 'greener' home then this is definately the book for you. The author gives you the base of why you are to do something and then some basic design element on how you can effectively perform a desired system.
   
   The book is easy to read and follow and has very good illitrations throughout.



2. For more detail, see my forthcoming book review in Landscape & Urban Planning, or the recent review (not by me) in Landscape Architecture Magazine.
   As an author whose main focus is on sustainability in landscape architectural practice, I go out of my way to encourage anyone with similar expertise. However, Regenerative Design Techniques (RDT) will disappoint anyone whose focus is landscape-specific. More than 2/3 of the book concerns buildings exclusively, on topics such as solar water and space heating or indoor air quality. It is not a bad book on green architecture, and contains much useful (although already widely published) information, but is definitely NOT primarily about landscape architecture as claimed by its title. Of its landscape-specific information, some is actively misleading, such as the claim that automatic-control irrigation uses 75% MORE water than a handheld hose (true only if the controller is maladjusted and the hose-holder is exquisitely attentive). The single review on Amazon that praises the book so highly is written by someone from the same university as the authors.
   If there were no solid landscape-specific information available, this book might have been a first step. However, that information is available from a wide range of sources including (but by no means limited to) my own books and articles for Landscape Architecture Magazine. Again, as a book on green BUILDINGS, RDT is not bad; as a title on landscape architecture it is extremely limited.



3. The book Regenerative Design Techniques by Melby and Cathcart is a welcomed contribution to the field of sustainable design. The book has everything needed for a textbook except problems, yet is so smoothly constructed that it can be read straight through from cover to cover. For most of us in the field, it will be one of the first general reference books available.
   The book begins by painting a broad view of the need for highly integrated sustainable design, not limited to only water or energy. The chapters then work their way through the general areas ? water, energy, shelter, waste, and landscapes. The approach used for each specific topic is highly effective. The concept is introduced, with general concepts and drawings. Then specific information for construction is offered and engineering tables for actual designs. Most importantly, sample calculations, drawings, and photographs of actual cases are incorporated.
   In a field that has been strong on ideals and short on details, this is a rich addition. It makes one realize how much we have been missing up until now.



4. The book Regenerative Design Techniques by Melby and Cathcart is a welcome contribution to the field of sustainable design. The book has everything needed for a textbook except problems, yet is so smoothly constructed that it can be read straight through from cover to cover. For most of us in the field, it will be one of the first general reference books available.
   The book begins by painting a broad view of the need for highly integrated sustainable design, not limited to only water or energy. The chapters then work their way through the general areas ? water, energy, shelter, waste, and landscapes. The approach used for each specific topic is highly effective. The concept is introduced, with general concepts and drawings. Then specific information and for construction is offered and engineering tables for actual designs. Most importantly, they then walk through sample calculations, drawings, and photographs of actual cases. The reader is left knowing why this is important, when to use it and how to build one.
   In a field that has been strong on ideals and short on details, this is a rich addition. It makes one realize how much we have been missing up until now.

5 comments about Great Sound Stereo Speaker Manual (Tab Electronics).

1. If you are only interested in "spoonfed" recipe loudspeaker designs, this book will be great for you. It does cover some important theory initially and has some very clear and succinct illustrations, but I felt that it was a let down of my expectations, especially if you pay too much attention to things like the cover illustration (way too "hi-end" and complex for this book!).

   Speaker building can easily become an addictive and engaging hobbie, and if you think at all that you may want more than a "casual glance" I'd strongly recommend "LOUDSPEAKER DESIGN COOKBOOK" by Vance Dickason instead. It may seem to be a more technical book but it has "staying power" and is a longer term reference text that the Weems/Koonce book.

   On the positive side, if you do lack the time, inclination or confidence to get into the "nitty gritty", this book does have projects that feature relatively simple enclosure construction, require readily available (and not too expensive) speaker drivers and components and it has choice in terms of scale, complexity (to an extent) etc in the projects.




2. Great introduction to loudspeaker design theory. Very good, in-depth discussion of crossovers with usable equations.

   However, the projects and suggested projects aren't worth the paper they're written on. After studying the theories on cabinet and crossover design, and researching available drivers, I don't think many people are going to be interested in using the cheapest crap available for drivers. The projects all use Audax, Peerless, Seas, and Vifa drivers - the worst junk available. The authors themselves state that these drivers deteriorate quickly, and that all the drivers for one particular project can be purchased for seven dollars each! Are you interested in investing all the time required to learn, design and build a set of speakers and then invest $28 in four drivers? I'm certainly not.

   The included software Crossover Modeling Program certainly has potential, and are useful for building the low-buck projects in this book. It includes treatment for virtually all the variables available for manipulation by the designer/builder. However, it's DOS based, almost impossible to navigate, only has data files available for the trash drivers used in the project, and, in fact, doesn't even have all the data files for all of those drivers. If they've got data files for good drivers like Focal, Eton, or even Dynaudio available on a web site or something, the program would be VERY USEFULL. And it is still usefull for modeling the crossover, but without linking in the driver specs, it's guesswork as to how the response curves are going to come out, let alone the actual speaker performance.

   It's amazing to me that the authors give such a good treatment to everything, go to all the trouble of developing a good modeling program, and then build garbage. You're going to have more invested in this book than you will in the speaker projects themselves. They even go into buying and/or building fairly sophisticated test equipment - for what? To test your $15 driver? After discussing all the advanced considerations, the projects use surface-mounted drivers with defractions rings instead of routing out the cabintes to flush-mount the drivers. Are you going to put the hundreds of hours into a project and then forego the extra few minutes to properly rout out the driver openings? I'm not!!

   Another serious shortcoming is that all the test data only goes down to 200 hertz, and almost all the response curves show a 3+ decibel rise in the 200-500 hz range. Well hey, bass response is where the going gets tough! But it makes the low-dollar, two- way, 5-6" 'woofer' projects look acceptable. The three-way projects are also a joke since the 'woofers' are still only 6.5". Believe me, there is going to be NO appreciable bass response at any significant volume level with ANY of these projects, and who wants to be crossing over to a subwoofer at 200 hz. I like 60-80 hz much better. And I'm not interested in having a system where a 5-6" driver is resonsible for handling everything from 3000 Hz on down - approximately seven octaves!

   I DO RECOMMEND buying this book - and then tearing out everything after page 165 .




3. This book covers the basic aspects of loudspeaker design in an easy to understand language and includes useful software on the CD-ROM. If you want to build your own speaker system, this is the book for you. Don't expect it, however, to go further in mathematical or theoretical contents.



4. Basically I experienced an expectatives problem. I was looking for a general coverage book and this came out to be a small cabinets one. If this is what you're looking for this is an excelent book, covering from A to Z. If you're looking for folded horns or large subwoofers, keep on trying.



5. A good beginner's book for those interested in building their own speakers without getting into heavy mathematics, passive electronics, complex woodworking, or folded horns. The book explains some the rudiments of speaker theory, and barely enough to design your own simple crossover network. The book has several economical projects which the author already debugged and are ready to build, including: the make and model of the speakers, list of passive components, schematic - which usually include extras like a Zobel network, and the cabinet dimensions. Their are several two-way projects and one three-way with a ten-inch woofer. Most designs use a soft-dome tweeter, if that's what you like. There is a list of raw component vendors in the back of the book. The designs for the ported boxes use the Thiel method, and I am finding that this may be conservatively sized toward the large side with respect to a flat bass response. The prose is a bit wordy, but still easy to read. Overall, I have learned a few things from this book.

1 comments about Modeling, Simulation, and Control of Flexible Manufacturing Systems: A Petri Net Approach (Series in Intelligent Control and Intelligent Automation, Vol. 6).

1. Application of Petri net in Flexible Manufacturing Systems modelling and perfomance analysis

No comments about Handbook of Design, Manufacturing and Automation.