1 comments about Workspheres: Design and Contemporary Work Styles (Museum of Modern Art Books).

1. This book is the companion piece to the current show on exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. I just got back from seeing it last week and had to buy the book before i forgot everything from the exhibit. The show focuses on the future of work environments, particularly alternative officing solutions. The future of office work stations is growing more to the specific needs of the end user and how productivity can be increased by making the work environment ever more user friendly. the actual designs and concepts are really futuristic with lots of new technology, high-tech materials and psychedelic colors. The new designs aim at mimicking the shape and patterns of the human mind, supposedly making the interaction between end user and work station more compatible and comfortable. This book demonstrates the importance of designing around the personal needs and psyche of the people who spend the majority of there days working in an office.

3 comments about Analysis and Design of Digital Systems with VHDL.

1. First off, another reviewer mentioned disappointment that this is not primarily a VHDL book. Just to clarify, this is a textbook for an undergraduate class in digital logic design that happens to teach VHDL, so those looking for a text primarily on VHDL will be disappointed. With that said, it does a good job overall of introducing the subject. Its explanations are generally clear, and it introduces all the foundations in a well-organized manner.
   
   My one complaint was the fairly poor index and reference material, both of which could have used a little more work. There was certainly reference material there, but I generally didn't find it that helpful.



2. There are not many books out there that can describe VHDL as good as this book does. I used this book as an introduction to Hardware logic in my EE classes and was always happy with the contents of the chapter. Although, some help was provided for the questions at the end of each chapter. In the advanced FPGA classes, this book provided a good reference whenever I forgot the basics.



3. Given the large number of VHDL books out there, this book comes up signficantly short. Although the title clearly implies this is a VHDL book, actual VHDL is not introduced until Chapter 11; the first ten chapters explain various digital design concepts. This type of instruction is better left to other sources. While the explanation of VHDL modeling is clear enough, the order in which concepts are explained are puzzling at best, and maddening at worst. The terribly incomplete index is also frustrating- it's not possible to look up VHDL constructs or keywords for syntax! My advice would be to explore other VHDL books- this one is best left alone.

No comments about Parametric Modeling with UGS NX6.

No comments about Lexicon of Garden and Landscape Architecture.

No comments about Architecture Materials: Glass Verre Glas (Architecture Materials).

5 comments about Inside The Java Virtual Machine.

1. so many pages, and so little stuff. what a waste of time and money!



2. This book spends too much paper explaining the Java history and why it is a good programming language. It is very, very boring. The advanced stuff begins after chapter 3, but they are not well explained. Well, all I can say is I really regret having bought this book, and I do not recommend it to any expirienced and short-in-time Java programmer like me.



3. The book covers many abstract concepts, but it is hard to understand what something abstract means without a concrete example. Implementation of the heap, object layout, etc. is difficult to conceptualize without a real example. I would have been happy if this book discussed the VM as it does now with a running commentary on the Sun Win32 JVM implementation.



4. This book is mostly a rehashing of the Java Virtual Machine Specification (which is available online from Sun, or in printed form). I found its reference section to be slightly less intuitively-organized than the JVM spec, and the rest of the book didn't really add a lot of new insight, beyond a semi-guided tour of the Java Class File format. I would've like a much more detailed tour of the really interesting JVM elements: locking/synchronization implementation, JITs, threads, and advanced garbage collection implementations. There's a lot of active research into JVM design, but not a drop of it can be found in here, sadly.



5. This book is somewhat less terse and succint than other books I've read. I don't have tons of time to read so appreciate short books that get to the point. This book was a little thicker than it needed to be. I like it but "Programming for the Java Virtual Machine" by Engel and O'Reilly's "Java Virtual Machine" are somewhat better books and thinner. PFTJVM has some nice diagrams while JVM has some better explainations on things like exceptions. It might be best to check out these three and pick according to taste.

No comments about Design Through Verilog HDL.

No comments about The Power of Design; An Introduction to Autodesk Inventor 2008.

4 comments about Estate Dream Homes: 150 Plans of Unsurpassed Luxury.

1. "Estate Dream Homes: 150 Plans of Unsurpassed Luxury" is an opulent gathering of home designs. The book opens with a series of beautiful, full-color photos of interiors and exteriors of homes built from the designs in this book. Twenty-one different firms have designs represented in this collection; these firms include Larry E. Belk, Design Traditions, Home Planners, Northwest Home Designing, R.L. Pfotenhauer, and others.

   A large proportion of the homes in this book lie in the 4,000 to 6,000 square foot range, although a number of homes are much larger. Both single-level and multi-level designs are included. Each design spread features floor plans and external drawings. Many different architectural styles are represented: Tudor, French Provincial, Georgian, Prairie, Pueblo, Greek Revival, and Victorian.

   Some of the features found in these designs include the following: huge master baths (some with built-in spas and saunas), elegant curved staircases, covered verandas, 2-story windows, majestic Greek-style pillars, gabled dormers, prominent external chimneys, external balconies, and much more. So if you want to indulge in some home architecture fantasies, check out this book.




2. I love looking at luxury floor plans, and this book did not dissapoint me in that matter. There could have been some more interior pictures, but if you want to study extraordinary floor plans up to +9000 sq ft, this is the book for you.



3. I adore looking at luxury dream home floorplans and to me "Estate Dream Homes" is one of the best of its kind.



4. The book starts with about 10 color pages of about 12 houses. Then there are 150 pages - one page per house plan. Most houses range in size from 4,000 - 8,000 sq ft. Most plans are architecturally interesting in some way or another. With a single page per house, it is hard to really appreciate the houses. House plans are available from their respective designer/architects.

1 comments about Garden Houses and Privies: Authentic Details for Design and Restoration.

1. Excellent collection of privies constructed from 1700 to 1875. The author has done his research and while the detailed drawings are the main focus, the text is interesting. I wish there were more of it as the subject is a bit off the beaten path. The book is a great resource for homeowners, architects or builders really interested in incorporating accurate historical elements in residential construction.