Landscapes and Gardens for Historic Buildings: A Handbook for Reproducing and Creating Authentic Landscape Settings: A Handbook for Reproducing and Creating ... for State and Local History Book Series)

Landscapes and Gardens for Historic Buildings: A Handbook for Reproducing and Creating Authentic Landscape Settings: A Handbook for Reproducing and Creating ... for State and Local History Book Series)
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Landscapes and Gardens for Historic Buildings: A Handbook for Reproducing and Creating Authentic Landscape Settings: A Handbook for Reproducing and Creating ... for State and Local History Book Series)
Rudy Favretti
Manufacturer: AltaMira Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
Landscape | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
Historic Preservation | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
General | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Landscape | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Home & Garden | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Professional | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
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ASIN: 0761989307

Book Description

From an historical perspective on landscape development in America, this well-illustrated book tells how to select the right period for your garden, identify authentic plants, research and plan its development, and maintain the restored landscape.

Customer Reviews:

Expert Advice.......2006-02-25

This is an excellent starting point for the beginner. It builds a proper base in a very practical, hands on way. Favretti is a well-known expert in Southern historic garden circles. He's created historic landscapes himself and comes at his subject with a great deal of experience.

Book Description

David Powers has been professionally involved with the electronic media for some 30 years, mostly in radio and television—he was BBC Tokyo correspondent in the late 1980s and early 1990s—but more recently with the Internet. He built his first site in 1995, and was instantly hooked. Eventually, the sheer tedium of updating content convinced him there must be a better way. After a brief flirtation with ASP, he experimented with PHP, and found himself hooked yet again.

A fluent Japanese speaker, Powers specializes in building Japanese-English bilingual websites, writing about Japan, and translating Japanese (he’s translated several plays). He co-authored Foundation Dreamweaver MX 2004 (1590593081) and PHP Web Development with Dreamweaver MX 2004 (1590593502). Powers also worked as technical reviewer on a number of web-related titles for Apress.

Customer Reviews:

Great Overview of PHP and MySQL, with even some gotchas for your ActionScript.......2007-05-14

I came to this book with a basic knowledge of ASP and Microsoft SQL Server. Using back end technologies with Flash is quite a change from (X)HTML, and this book really helps you get your head around the change in logic needed to effectively use Flash with a back end.

I haven't quite finished the book, but everything I've read so far has been great. Highly recommended.

Everything I was looking for.......2007-04-06

I'm a Flash developer transitioning into creating RICH applications and decided you use PHP for that technology. I wanted a book that would guide me from the ground up with integrating PHP into Flash. This book did the job!!!!

It showed me step by step how to create my own local Apache and MySQL servers with ease, and clearly explained the configuration woes a newcomer when face. Very impressive!!!

The book then guides you through several examples of using Flash and PHP together. In fact you'll end up with a pretty cool game on HangMan once you're done.

What a great book!.......2006-09-22

"Foundation PHP 5 for Flash" by David Powers is a great book, as I've come to expect from both David Powers and his publisher, Friends of ED.

The word "Foundation" in the title may lead you to think this is a beginner's book; it decidedly is not. As stated on the back cover, the book is aimed at the "reasonably experienced Flash user who has mastered the basics." I'd even say that it takes a mastery of more than just the basics to get the most out of this book. Without a very good knowledge of ActionScript, much of the material would be difficult to follow.

That being said, this book is not about ActionScript. It's not even really about Flash. It's a book about PHP -- and a very, very good book about PHP at that. It's also a book about MySQL. Prior to the most advanced chapters, the tie-in with Flash (and ActionScript) is said in one word: LoadVars. Once you get past that, you can pretty much forget about ActionScript for much of the book and focus on learning PHP and MySQL. Although the book does show by example how to get variables between your Flash user and LoadVars in ActionScript, you really do need to be comfortable with the ins and outs of Flash in general and ActionScript in particular in order to make full use of those examples, and this is not the book for learning that part of it. In the more advanced chapters, more ActionScript comes into play, and it can get confusing if you're not already comfortable with it. (I'd liken diving into this book without knowing ActionScript or PHP to learning to speak Spanish and Italian at the same time: at some point, you're going to say "dónde" when you mean to say "dove.")

What this book does cover extremely well is everything that happens on the back end, outside of Flash. The chapters that introduce PHP do much more than just introduce it: they are an excellent tutorial in the language that would even be a great resource for people who just want to learn PHP without having anything to do with Flash. Concepts are explained clearly and completely, and the examples are extremely useful and illustrative. The same can be said for the MySQL chapters: You really do learn MySQL, and not just by breezing through one or two superficial examples as in most PHP books.

The nuts-and-bolts chapters are particularly brilliant. David Powers's walk-throughs on installing Apache, PHP and MySQL are legendary. You simply couldn't ask for a better guide! The appendices -- including 20 whole pages on various things that might go wrong and what to do about it -- are indispensable.

My only criticism is of the often convoluted examples. The author's style is to build up the examples iteratively, retracing and revising the code, step by step, over many pages as you learn new techniques. He will often walk you through the "obvious-but-wrong" way of doing something, then make changes little by little, introducing new concepts along the way. While this is perhaps a good way of learning, it sometimes feels like you're reaching over your head with your right hand to scratch your left ear.

As usual, the Friends of ED name on the cover means you're buying quality. Everything from the paper to the layout to the typography is top-of-the-line. While black-and-white printing usually doesn't work well for Flash books, it's perfectly fine for this book (remember, I told you that this isn't really a book about Flash). The author is very active in the Friends of ED readers' forum, so you can be certain that any questions you have about the examples (or about pretty much anything else for that matter) will be answered by the author himself in great detail if you address them on the forum.

So if you know ActionScript and want to learn how to put a database behind it, or if you're a skilled PHP programmer looking for another way to apply your knowledge, or even if you have no real interest in Flash but want to gain a deep understanding of PHP/MySQL, this is a great book for you. Be prepared to spend lots of time with it -- it's nearly 700 pages and it has zero fluff -- but it is time very well spent indeed.

OVER RATED FOR NOVICES!.......2006-09-17

On the upside, the tutorials on installation are excellent. Apache, PHP 5 installation and if you get that far, the MySQL installation are all well described and carefully written. The forum works, if you happen to be a programmer. Theres quick help for those seeking answers but not so quick if you are novice...

When you get into trouble is when you realize that version changes make understanding the complex code jargon very difficlut to understand- though coded exaples for the Flash version that I have were provided. The examples are impossibly long and complicated and when you finally sift though them Eureka, it does not work. FRUSTRATING. Though said to have working examples, I could not get the tedious long examples to work on my computer- and spent many hours re reading the entire book to find out why. I did not expect a quick and easy solution to learning but after two months, I made no progress and found my incompetnce with programming becomiing overwhelming. This book may kill your desire to learn, even if you are willing to spend the time.

This book is a time bandit. Phenomonally complicated for beginners, it's written for experienced programmers, though said to be for novices. It has been my experience to see most programmers who write books, write at a level that is not possible to understand by beginners. It's like going into a new city and asking for directions from a local resident, " it's easy to find and you can't miss it " is the norm. Powers may leave you sleeping on the street.

Very good book on integrating php and mysql with Flash.......2006-07-26

I was very pleased with the book. I like the author's style, and I especially like how the projects are more than your typical "hello world" examples. Yes, some of them do take a little time, but you can type them out or read along as you wish, and they don't take that much time. I thought the book was absolutely excellent at accomplishing what it sets out to do - show you how to integrate flash with PHP and MySQL. Very nice job.

Average customer rating:

One of the best ever!
Excellent book for all levels
Good starting point.
Well.....
An excellent intro to Flash!

Foundation Flash 5
Sham Bhangal , Amanda Farr , and Patrick Rey
Manufacturer: Wrox Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Graphic Design | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Software | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1903450314

Amazon.com

This new addition to the growing library of Flash instruction books gives readers a solid base in this popular and increasingly necessary Web development application. The book promises a foundation that's both accessible, meaning that you won't be daunted by ActionScript or any of the other topics, and extensible, meaning that you'll find it easy to add to your knowledge after you've finished the book.

Foundation successfully avoids the trap, so common in other instruction books, of an all-encompassing but shallow overview. It successfully performs an in-depth treatment of the more essential aspects of using Flash. At the end, you might not know every menu option, but you'll be able to construct your own Flash Web site. The book uses one case study project: a Web site interface with animated buttons, soundtrack, and Flash-enabled content. Small-scale lessons within chapters and application of these lessons to the larger-scale project help reinforce the material (support files for the case study can be downloaded from www.friendsofed.com).

The writing follows a narrative style (longer paragraphs both before and within the numbered steps), and manages to be just the right amounts of casual and friendly. Personal anecdotes, when they occur, actually enhance the lessons. Although this style makes hopping around the book and troubleshooting specific problems more difficult, the payoff for reading in a linear, cumulative fashion is a better handle on the pros and cons of Flash's core features. Another plus is that readers can follow along, even if they're not sitting at the computer. (Learn Flash on the subway! Why not?) Throughout the book, the authors often point out alternative methods and uses for features, too, which encourages creative thinking on how to apply the lessons to your own projects. First-time users of Flash, as well as experienced users who have put off trying scripting, will find this book a good place to start. --Angelynn Grant

Topics covered:
Step-by-step instruction of Flash 5, using a Web site interface case study. Lessons include:

The authoring environment
Toolbox
Symbols and libraries
Managing content on the stage with rulers, guides, grids, and so on
Working with color, bitmap graphics, and typefaces
Tweening
Masks
Actions
Beginning and intermediate ActionScript
Sound
Optimizing and publishing
Principles of good site design

Book Description

Foundation Flash 5 gives you all the skills you need to get started in the latest version of Flash. It takes you from your first drawing and animation project in Chapter 1 through to a strong foundation in the sophisticated ActionScripting capabilities now built into Flash 5. It is a thorough and practical, tutorial led book, where each chapter builds into a complete design example - reinforcing what you've learnt in that section and how it can be applied in real design projects. By the end of the book you'll have an expert-level, Flash-rich website, and the skills to develop and modify your own Flash 5 effects. Professional-level design with Flash has taken a quantum step up with Flash 5. Foundation Flash 5 provides you with all the climbing gear you need for the steeper learning curve. You'll break a sweat. But when you get there the view from the top is really worth the effort!

Written by the renowned team of Flash experts who bring you the great tutorials on Virtual-FX.net, this book will teach you what you need for designing cutting edge Flash 5 effects.

Customer Reviews:

One of the best ever!.......2005-10-28

This one should be one of the best instructional books ever written. Of course now is a little outdated (some of the Actionscript commands are now deprecated) but I remember how much I enjoyed it and how I discovered the FOED books. The Foundation series RULES!

Excellent book for all levels.......2004-07-01

First of all the authors of this book and the series of books they have written are brilliant, they have a great way of making even the most complex subjects very simplistic.

This book starts off slow and in the very basics of flash and gets quite extensive towards the end, I believe they stop right at actionscripting for which there is a whole other book (quite needed!)

I am (was) actually a Flash instructor at a college here in OC, the college provided or recommended their own book but I never used it and I told my students that purchasing that book was not necessary. I actually tought out of this book! And on the first day I told everyone they didn't have to buy it but if they did they would find it very helpful throughout the couse and later on, it's also definately a good reference book to go back to if you don't use Flash all the time and happen to forget.

Anyway needless to say every class I tought loved this book and loved learning flash. I even took some example/exercises out of the book. Everyone learned the full contents of the class and found it very fun. The illustrations and sample projects help a lot, if you are learning on your own I recommend you do them. Anyway I've had this book for years now and as a user and instructor I would say there's no other book I would turn to.

Good starting point........2003-01-10

This book is not a reference to flash 5.

This book goes through step by step how to make flash movies from the ground up. It assumes nothing; which is great for most beginners.

I was definitly not a beginner when i bought the book. (i got it at the time of release because it was hyped up quite a bit).

At the time i understood, and fast tracked through it to get at the good stuff to find out that it never really got any "great" stuff. Some of the examples are done very well, and are great in the tutorial sense, but i was disapointed that i didn't learn anything new. (or little).

This is flash 5. You could learn flash just as well with tutorials online at any of the bigger flash websites. If you're new to flash: this is a great start. But if you have the least bit of flash knowledge then i can see someone getting bored with this qucikly.

Bottom line:
Great place to start. Not a reference by any means. Remember its flash 5. Flash MX is out, and much more fun than flash 5.

Well............2002-11-05

This book was ok in the fact that it spent the entire book building on one real project. However, I thought the book was a tougher read than the Teach yourself Flash 5 in 24 hrs book. I guess it's really a matter of preference. I found this book to be adaquate, but not anything close to the other book. Teach yourself had a unique way of teaching you that really hammered the techniques home. I guess I didn't feel this one accomplished that.

An excellent intro to Flash!.......2002-10-24

I've been working through this book for almost a week and I love it! The writing is clear and the concepts are explained very well. The authors include hands-on tutorials for each concept, and their step-by-step instructions walk you through your first try at each new skill.

They are also very good about teaching you the keyboard shortcuts for common actions as you go along (and reminding you to use them!) Knowing the shortcuts for adding a keyframe, breaking apart a graphic, converting a graphic to a symbol etc. makes your project work go quickly and really builds your sense of competence.

At the end of each chapter you practice what you learned in that chapter by using the new skills to add on to your ongoing "case study" website.

This is one of the best tutorials on a program that I have come across and one of the few technical books I have ever read cover to cover. I have many technical books and usually end up using them for reference instead of actually working through them. If you want to gain competence in Flash in a week or two, get "Foundation Flash 5" and work your way through it. It's easy!

Book Description

An encyclopedia of embarrassments by Britain's answer to Matt Groening.

Everyone has a personal problem or two-or seven. So don't be shy, take this book and make use of the clever alphabetical filing system to track down your very own unpleasant personal problem! You'll feel relief wash over you as your 'difficulty' pales to insignificance when compared to: possession by the devil, foot-in-mouth disease, husbands, fear of toasters, and much, much more. . .

Copiously illustrated and punishingly funny, Steven Appleby's Encyclopedia of Personal Problems is a must have, even for those rare creatures without a personal problem (see "Denial," page 94).

Customer Reviews:

Amazing!.......2003-05-28

If you want to laugh, smile and feel good without leaving your house, buy this book. It is the best book ever written, and I promise you, you will carry it around with you to read and re-read through-out the day. Buy two, so you can cheer up a friend.

Amazing!.......2003-05-28

Steven Appleby's Encyclopedia of Personal Problems.......2002-01-08

It's not often a book can make a person laugh out loud, but if there was one book that could guarantee it, it would be Steven Appleby's Encyclopedia of Personal Problems. Mr. Appleby is a creative genius. If you are a fan of Gary Larson (The Far Side), Matt Groening (Simpsons, Life in Hell), or have a warped sense of humor at all, this book is indispensable. The illustrations are brilliant, and the book is penned competeley in freehand. It's written like an encyclopedia, so you can look up a specific "personal problem", or just pop it open at random for a good laugh. I don't know if one could survive reading it cover to cover. It made my sister laugh to the point of tears after only one page. I warned you!

Book Description

Technology. Consolidation. Consumerism.

Each in its turn has rocked the real estate industry in the 1990s. What will come next and how will it affect your business? Real Estate Confronts Reality asks these questions and more. What is the future for the National Association of Realtors? Will the mortgage banking industry seize control of the real estate transaction? What will be the ultimate impact of HFS's emergence in the real estate industry? Will consumers continue to use real estate professionals, or will FSBOs be the wave of the future? To find out the answers to these questions, you must read Real Estate Confronts Reality.

Customer Reviews:

Good, but dated info on changing real estate industry.......2003-03-02

This 1998 book is good as far as it goes. Interviews in the book date from 1997. Today in the rapidly changing real estate field 5 or 6 years is a long time, perhaps too long.
I thought that the book was primarily aimed at real estate agents and brokers. There are lots of cautionary words and tones in the book basically saying the industry is changing and those participants ready, willing and able to change can adapt to the future of the real estate industry. Those wishing to do business as usual are going to be left in the dust. There's a chapter on the National Association of Realtors and whether they will survive or not. There's a chapter on HFS, which now owns Century 21, Coldwell Banker, ERA, Cendant, and PHH. Is obviously a giant force in the real estate market place. In addition there are chapters on consumers, tech, internet, and demographics. Overall this is a good book but not an excellent book, suffering from the age of the book and the rapidly changing real estate/internet landscape.

Good overview, slightly dated.......2000-10-28

If you want a 30,000ft perspective on the forces changing the industry this is a good intro. However, the changes in the last 12 mos have been a watershed for technology adoption. 40% of all consumers are now beginning their real estate research online and leading brokers and agents are not waiting around to see what happens. This book is worth the money if you want background and context (analysts, new technology and sevice companies, new industry professionals) but I would look elsewhere for specific answers.

Useful, but dated and not especially well written........1999-10-04

"Confronts" is a useful book, and worth the time if you seek an overview of some influences on the real estate industry. However, don't expect a well-written, articulate look at the evolving state of the real estate industry -- the book could have benefited greatly from thorough editing by a business editor as well as a from a technical editor.

The content is rapidly becoming dated...most of the text is based on 1997 information and interviews and, as we approach the end of 1999, significant changes have occurred both in internet opportunities and in real estate itself. That is not an indictment of the authors, but instead advice to read this book in the context of what has occurred since their research, including changes in corporate structure of real estate brokers, growth in e-lending, ownership of the e-Real Estate sites, IPO results, similar changes in commercial real estate, continued moves by lenders to "source" the consumer, mergers and consolidation in lending, title, appraisal, real estate, and how the various sectors are responding to these changes, etc.

Again, useful but not great business literature.

The future is now.......1999-01-01

This book does an excellent job of describing the real estate industry's current status and provides a glimpse into the next several years. It is a must read for office managers, brokers, and anyone who is serious about making a living in the industry. The book will inspire thought as to how you will position yourself and your organization for the new "reality".

This book tells it like it is, and will be.......1998-09-04

This book does a good job of focusing on the future of real estate. While there is a lot of unknown, the authors of this book have some great insight on the future and what it has to bring for real estate agents. You better update your systems and change with technology, or get out of business baby!

Average customer rating:

Real Estate Confronts Reality
Tom Dooley
Manufacturer: REAL ESTATE EDUCATION COMPANY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000JJPAEI

Real Estate Confronts Reality. (book reviews): An article from: Mortgage Banking

Average customer rating:

Real Estate Confronts Reality. (book reviews): An article from: Mortgage Banking
Dona DeZube
Manufacturer: Mortgage Bankers Association of America
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Mortgage Banking, published by Mortgage Bankers Association of America on March 1, 1998. The length of the article is 888 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Real Estate Confronts Reality. (book reviews)
Author: Dona DeZube
Publication: Mortgage Banking (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 1, 1998
Publisher: Mortgage Bankers Association of America
Volume: v58 Issue: n6 Page: p115(2)

Article Type: Book Review

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