2 comments about The Architect's Handbook of Professional Practice.

1. This book is an impressive accomplishment, admittedly. It is a vast amount of information, very thorough, complete, and seems to cover every aspect of professional practice for an architect. I have other editions of this book back to the 1958 copy, and they are fairly extraordinary records of the changes in the profession.
   
   The failures of this book are to some extent caused by its subject matter. Architectural practice has changed in the last decade for some firms, and this book admirably tries to reflect and analyze that change -- although this probably holds true for a very small number of firms. If you're a partner at Skidmore Owings and Merrill and trying to broadly envision where practice is heading, hey this book is perfect for you. But I imagine many firms are not going to have that much use for re-examining the nature of the "client" or "project," a lot of this material would be better served by smaller (cheaper) specialized books.
   
   It's an ambitious goal to attempt a comprehensive overview of architectural practice but its editing doesn't rise to the occasion. In between interesting insights and clear explanations of practice topics you really can't find elsewhere, you find some seriously clunky essays and information that is comically useless.
   
   For example, consider this gem in an essay on architecture and the web: "Email is a personal, direct connection to the Internet. You can send messages, attach drawings, and communicate instantly across the globe with a few clicks of the mouse. Email is much like regular mail. You send mail to particular addresses, and they write to you at yours..." Okay, this for a book published in 2001. Not 1981, but 2001. Are they also going to explain what a telephone thingy is on my desk, or what I'm supposed to do with this fax machine here? It might have been useful to have a page about email's legal status, or how a firm should set policies about email, but what we've got here is a page long description for someone who's been living under a rock and has no idea what email actually IS. Although this is simply one minor example, it is the kind of thing that makes this book wildly uneven and screaming for a competent editor. For the price of this book I think we deserve more.



2. In addition to the all-new format (thankfully no more binders!), this book really does cover EVERYTHING an architect needs to know to run a business-- from working with clients to developing added-value services-- all in one book. I especially appreciate the new section devoted to understanding client motivation, thinking, processes, and values and the new section summarizing services I can offer to expand my client base. This is definitely the book that every architect needs to keep close at hand!

4 comments about Learning Mastercam Mill X Step by Step in 2D.

1. I found this publication an excellent introduction to Mastercam X and the whole concept of 3D Milling. The projects are easy to follow and are easily translated to producing your own projects. I am sure the more advanced sections will become useful as I progress in 3D Milling.
   WELL DONE



2. Did anyone actually do the problems given in the book? If they did they would have discovered that key strokes are missing and some dimensions are wrong. Awful, don't bother.



3. The material is worthwhile, but the editors have let down the authors on this text. I found too many errors to be excused. Errors focused on spelling and missing keystroke information.
   
   Come on guys! Spelling errors are inexcusable these days! Key stroke sequence errors should have been fixed in the editing process.
   
   I have worked with AutoCAD for 19 years, and I have been writing CNC programs for 8 years. I was able to deduce the correct keystroke information, but I think this would be a difficult (frustrating) text for the novice.



4. This book is the best in the industry. There is no other book that can teach you mastercam mill from scratch, trust me i looked. I can't wait till they come out with their lathe version.

No comments about Residential Design Using AutoCAD 2009.

2 comments about Construction Print Reading.

1. This was a lot cheaper than buying it from the local store. It seems brand new, with no writings and includes all of the construction drawings that were supposed to come with it. I'm happy...



2. This book a good introduction for blueprint reading, there are 2D and 3D drawings that help readers to visualize the information on the drawings. At the end of each chapter are review questions and definitions of key words, which are useful especially for students.

   It comes with large construction drawings on three projects that were actually built. Although they should have printed them on separate pieces of paper instead of having them on both sides of the sheet, this makes it hard to compare and study those construction drawings.

   Also, the paper used for publication I find is a bit thin, you have to read the textbook on a flat surface, otherwise it will curl up. The same goes with the construction drawings, after a couple of times of folding and un-folding, the papers tend to tear easily.

   I would recommend this book for anyone interested in the building industry.

2 comments about Design Thinking.

1. I read this book as a precursor to a lecture I was giving to a group of undergraduate architecture students on 'design thinking'. At this point you may be asking yourself, "what is design thinking"? Exactly. My understanding had more to do with how we identify and balance the multitude of issues that surround any architectural or urban design problem. I see it as our ability to distill from all the forces and influences on a site, the project's essence. Rowe sees it in a slightly different manner; a very scientific one. Which in this publication, for me at least, made for a somewhat dry read. There are stretches of scientific analysis of human problem solving skills that I imagine many will find fascinating. However, as an architect I was interested in understanding in a more tangible way, what informs our intuitive decisions related to site, place, space, movement, program, structure, etc.
   
   Additionally, I would have liked to see the design and thought processes of the three initial case studies investigated more thoroughly. They were largely abandoned after their introduction with just a few references back to those examples in the text.
   
   The writing can be a bit verbose at times and when blended with the frequent scientific jargon, a bit taxing. At times the book appears to be collecting and synthesizing all critical writing completed on the topic over the last century, frequently quoting and referencing other works. This is a serious read and if you approach it with the right mindset, you will find some real gems and well constructed thoughts.



2. I am an architecture student and this book was assigned in my studio class. Although the reading can be difficult to follow, it is highly informative about the design process and challenges you to do further research to expand your knowledge. If you are buying this, don't be afraid to take that extra step while reading. Knowledge is power, Are you up to the challenge?

No comments about Discovering AutoCAD(R) 2005.

2 comments about The Boundary-Scan Handbook.

1. This is a great book for anyone who plans on using boundary scan. I have been working in boundary scan for years and found areas of this book very useful.



2. Since the mid-1970s, the structural testing of the loaded printed circuit boards (PCBs) has relied very heavily on the use of the so-called in-circuit "bed-of-nails" technique. This method of testing makes use of a fixture containing a bed-of-nails to access individual devices on the board through test lands laid into the copper interconnect, or other convenient contact points. Testing then proceeds in two phases: the power-off tests followed by power-on tests. Power-off tests check the integrity of the physical contact between nail and the on-board access point. They then carry out open and shorts tests based on impedance measurements. Power-on tests apply stimulus to a chosen device on a board, with an accompanying measurement of the response from that device. Other devices that are electrically connected to the device-under-test (DUT) are usually placed into a safe state (a process called "guarding"). In this way, the tester is able to check the presence, orientation, and bonding of the DUT in place of the board.

   Fundamentally, the in-circuit bed-of-nails technique relies on physical access to all devices on a board. Such was the technique in the mid-1980s when a group of concerned test engineers got together to examine the problem and its solutions. The method of solution was based on the concept of a serial shift register around the boundary of the device - hence the name "boundary scan".

   Principles of Boundary Scan
   Each primary input signal and primary output signal is supplemented with a multi-purpose memory element called a boundary-scan cell. Cells on device primary inputs are referred to as "input cells"; cells on the primary output are referred to as "output cells". The input and outputs is relative to the core logic of the device. The collection of the boundary cells is configured into a parallel-in, parallel-out shift register. A parallel load operation, called a "capture" operation, causes signal values on device input pins to be loaded into input cells and, signal values passing from the core logic to the device output pins to be loaded into output cells. A parallel unload operation called an "update" operation causes signal values already present in the output scan cells to be passes out through the device output pins. Signal values already present in the input scan cells will be passed into the core logic.

   Data can also be shifted around the shift register, in serial mode, starting from a dedicated device input called TDI and terminating at a dedicated device output pin called TDO. The test clock TCK, is fed in via another dedicated device input pin and the mode of operation is controlled by a dedicated TMS serial control signal. At the device level, the boundary scan elements contribute nothing to the functionality of the core logic. In fact, the boundary scan path is independent of the function of the device. On board the four; boundary scan devices are connected from one to the next in a serial format. The TDI input to the board is connected to the TDI input of the first device; the TDO output of the first device is connected to the TDI input of the next device; and so forth; creating a global scan path terminating at the TDO connecter output. TCK is connected in parallel to each device, TMS the control pin works similarly.

   In this way, particular tests can be applied to the device interconnects via the global scan path by loading the stimulus into the appropriate device output scan cells via the edge connecter TDI (shift-in operation), applying the stimulus (update operation), capturing the responses at the device input scan cells (capture operation), and shifting the response values out to the edge connector TDO (shift-out operation). Essentially the boundary scan cells can be thought of as the "virtual nail".

   There are four modes to be aware of normal, update, capture, and serial shift. During normal mode, data_in is passed straight through to Data_out. During update mode, the content of the output register is passed through the Data_out. During capture mode, the Data_in signal is routed to the shift register and the value is captured by the next ClockDr state. During shift mode, the scan_out of the register flip flop is passed through to the scan_in of the next via a hard wired path.

No comments about Warehouse Management: Automation and Organisation of Warehouse and Order Picking Systems (Intralogistik).

3 comments about Structural Steel Designer's Handbook.

1. That is one more handbook with a lot of pages full of words, photos and figures that teaches the buyer almost nothing. The only exception is Mr. Hedefine's article about plate bridges.
   Save your money.



2. This book is written by various experience P.E. or Professors. It is not emphasis on practical calculation. There are very few example and definitions for formulars and related equation. If reader has no experience before, it would be very difficult to understand. Half of the book is devoted to bridge design, and it dose not provide enough information to design a bridge..

   This is not really a how-to book.




3. Many eng. firm have this book, this is a good reference for many structural problem, The most difficult for a designer is the simplify the problem, and create model with the forces on it. Merrits book cover a very large utility of different subjets. And this is not a fist edition, no error a have see on this book. The autors for each part of this book is a engineering with many years of experiences on this subjet. For me this is a very good thing, for the knowlege....

   Dont hesitate ...

2 comments about AutoCAD 2008: One Step at a Time.

1. This is more of an intermediate level in my opinion. I had difficulty with some parts of this because I didnot know a thing about Autocad when I first began using this.
   Once you know a little, this is a master workbook. This is the very best.



2. Very good book; it's really a step by step instructor, and is deep in concepts and has lot of exercices that you get in Internet.