Entertainment for IT Architects
583941
I found this book accidentally while I check what articles available on the Internet about the Cloud and IT Architectures. First few chapters available free on the various Internet pages (ex.: Amazon), and as it was so good, so readable and entertaining I finally ordered a hard copy too. It provides a very good, and comprehensive description of designing Could infrastructure for hosting customer services and/or for designing Services into various Could models (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS). With reading this about 200 pages very good, vendor independent knowledge can be acquired.
4363313
This text focuses on software construction.  Key technologies are illustrated by example in Java, explained using design patterns, and accompanied by UML diagrams.  Arciniegas opens the book with a succinct expression of XML fundamentals such as namespaces and DTDs.  Following is professional coverage of the core technologies: SAX2, DOM2, XPath, XLink, XPointer, XSLT, XML Schemas.  This text also explores Wireless applications, XML-RPC, and database integration.  While many surveys are stuffed with specification detail or pointless listings, this book is suprisingly low-fat.  The case studies (two complete applications) are my favorite part. It is refreshing to see actual analysis and design in a book of this type.  Highly recommended.
16308
A very suitable book for Architecture and design. It opens your mind in a critical way and makes you think projects from more than one aspect.
3008540
This is a well written book on NLayer architecture in .NET applications (both Web & Desktop applications). It starts describing architecture and architect, then explains all widely used paradigms and patterns in each layer and compares them with each other in detail. Discusses benefits and downsides of all approaches. I think it is a usefull book for one who interesting in architectures of applications. Also, it can help developers to develop more organized and well designed systems. I think this is an intermediate/pro level book.
3845129
Love this! It helps to have some IT experience but if you are a geek like me you will love it.
1902846
A book for game addicts. For those of you who want the utmost in performance and are prepared to spend money and, more significantly, time, to achieve this ends.

In the centre of the book are placed colour photos that are clearly meant to make you drool. Nice camera work that gives sexy images of  cool hardware. Granted, if you do not believe that hardware can be sexy, then this book is probably not for you.

The book explains what are the key parts that affect gaming performance. Primarily the microprocessor, memory, video card and disk drives. For each of these, various options are explored. The most important might be whether to use an Intel or AMD CPU. There are nuances here that make comparisons non-trivial. But the book does offer benchmarking suggestions. Perhaps the main point here is that an AMD CPU is often (always?) cheaper than an Intel CPU that gives comparable performance.

Memory is somewhat easier to compare. The main memory vendors have standardised on a few formats. But even here, the book delves into what Double Data Rate RAM means, and why DDR2 is considered faster and better. You are warned that if you choose an AMD CPU, then currently it can only take DDR.

The book covers more topics, of course. But the above might be the most significant, and they give some idea of the type of advice offered. It assumes that you will have to spend money, and it shows how to do this wisely.
2978443
Raspberry Pi Architecture Essentials is a great read for those interested in getting a taste of lower-level programming, right down to Assembly Language on the ARM Processor. This book would be ideal for someone already familiar with using and configuring a Raspberry Pi, and is searching for a highly-technical overview of programming with the Pi from Assembly to Python, programming graphics and sound, and integrating with the GPIO bus. It even touches on a few server-level tasks like running an NFS share or a Web Server.

The initial chapters provide introductions to Assembly Language, C\C++ and Python, providing simple sample programs to give the reader an idea of the complexity of using each language as well as the features and options available. The intermediate portion of the book covers some Linux Server Administrative tasks like building and running a web server or NFS share, and also covers programming low-level graphics and sound. The final part of the book introduces the GPIO bus with examples of integrating the Raspberry Pi with circuits and micro controllers. Finally, it wraps up with a project that ties a lot of previous chapters together, leaving the reader with a diverse tease into many of the things you can do with a Raspberry Pi.

As someone with prior experience to a lot of these topics, I found it a nice re-visit to a modern Assembly Language, and it was fun to toy around with C again, though it doesn't dive too deep into any particular technology, so it you are after a specific application on the Raspberry Pi, this might not be the book for you. It is also not for the true novice - while it does provide links to installation, and is very clear and well-written, the topics covered are definitely for the more advanced user. If you are the type of person that likes to try a few different things to see what they like, then you should really enjoy this book.

While an Arduino and some other additional hardware is required for the later chapters (listed in the Preface), most of the book can be tackled with just a Raspberry Pi and its standard components.

I enjoyed being the Technical Reviewer for this book, and think this book will be enjoyed by Readers already playing with a Raspberry Pi, that are looking for ways to do more interesting things with it.
3927210
This book has a different approach to presenting IT advice. It uses the form of a novel with representative dialogue inside a company to illustrate how IT strategy must dovetail with business strategy. If you deal with the soft side of IT and work with business executives, this book will be helpful to you.
2521782
This is a delight!  A little difficult to get set up and working, but after conquering the leernaing curve, sitting back and watching the chaning views is just plain fun.  I recommend it.for general home use and iw wopuld be an outstanding contertop display in any business.
2983837
This was a wonderfully refreshing and entertaining read. Golden Krishna articulates what many design and technology professionals feel, but maybe can't say. It's incredibly challenging as a design professional to avoid screen-based thinking  especially if a screen-based user interface is a project requirement. This book is a well-cited, whimsical reminder to push beyond the borders of the display even when there's no choice; a call to design/tech professionals to design the human experience non-intrusively.
3006334
This book chronicles the work of the 2004 AIA Firm of the Year. It displays some the best work of a firm that has won numerous awards for a body of outstanding work that include some of the best examples of venecular architecture built in recent years. The forward by Pritzker Price Laureate Glenn Murcutt explains the reason this firm's work is so relevant. The introduction by Thomas Fisher provides insight into work that stands out for its clarity of meaning and use of sustainable materials. The photography and layout are equal to the high quality of the projects presented. Overall an outstanding book that is well written and photographed, capturing the work of an outstanding architectural fitm that has a lot to teach any practicing or even interested in architecture.
1728790
While this little book is aimed at architectural students and professionals, I presume, it is of considerable interest to the involved layman who is concerned about the environment and interested in architecture and design.  I really recommend it, though some may be put of by the concentration towards those who will actually be planning and designing our future.
537816
This book/paper media provides excellent examples/samples of TUSCAN design/stone work within and on the  exterior of  homes. Text gives detailed illustrations in support of the text and visuals presented.
I found the architecture of great value for visual learning . It presented a creative visual -idea tool in communication with my architect. This book provides excellent uses for a stone product which the individual home owner may not think about because the architectural designs have run to creative levels within and around the home.
4259359
The author is a colleague of mine at the USC School of Architecture.  This is a comprehensive and well-written book on Building Information Modeling in a dense and compact size.
1630316
This is a great book that puts the big picture of BIM and computation design together. It covers the major venues where current industry/academic interests are, in an effective and efficient manner. Both scholars and professionals should find this book valuable.
2822447
Rechtin is no stranger to architecting complex systems.  Most of his insights are drawn from his 40 years experience as the chief architect for NASA during the moon landings and a long list of defence and civil positions.
The book covers a wide range of topics germane to architects as a field and profession: boundaries and interfaces, information systems, the challenge of ultra-quality, economics and public policy, AI, assessing architectures are some of the sections.
The style of the book is alomost memoir-like.  He groups his experiences into three main headings with many sub headings.  Each item within the sub headings rate 2-4 pages with some heuristic attached.  It's a fascinating read because it's a rare glimpse into the mind of someone whose job it was to "keep the entire system in his head".  He basically had to answer and implement a system that solved the question, "How do we get three men to the moon and back before the end of the decade?".
The two most useful aspects are his in depth treatment on the economics and politics of architecting and a multitude(over 100) heuristics.  For instance,
"the greatest **leverage** in system architecting is at the interfaces"  "complex systems will develop and evolve within and overall architecture much more rapidly if there are stable intermediate forms than if there are not" "profit is a matter of definition and cost is not an absolute" "there is no such thing as immaculate communication"
and my favourite
"the time in days, T, to obtain an approval requiring N signatures is approximately T = 2^(N-2).
The book has been in print for some time and many of the examples regarding designing jet propulsion systems, fail-safe computers for the moon or road networks may not be easily related to accounting, manufacturing or web systems.  But as a blueprint for a profession that is growing in importance, it lays an anectdotal foundation that will be hard to match.
447569
As others have noted, this is a useful book for generating ideas and getting the creative juices flowing. I bought it to obtain those features, and it did not disappoint me.

The Stiles are, apparently, a prolific couple on this and similar topics, and they certainly deserve credit for effective packaging and marketing. David Stiles has filled the book's pages with material--some good, some irrelevant, and some good for entertainment--but he certainly has filled it nonetheless. The layout and tone of this book is vaguely reminiscent of a copy of an early 1970s Mother Earth News. The reader's challenge is to extract the kernals of insight from the volumes of chaff. What the book lacks in detailed engineering and construction discussion and techniques it makes up for in peripheral and, in some cases, funny advice. Consider the detailed description of the electronic vehicle-arrival and gate-unlocking monitors--this in a book purported to find ways to get one in touch with mother nature and perhaps forego electricity entirely. Or the sketch plan for the garden-hose remedy against racoons infiltrating your metal trashcan. The advice is intriguing enough, but one suspects that a bit more discussion on well-installation or obtaining running water might be in order before turning to a technological solution involving the use of pressurized water for a racoon problem. Given the Stiles' ties to Manhattan, maybe the accepted security measures of their current environment don't seem quite as ridiculous or irrelevant as they probably do to anyone who actually lives in a rural area. Or consider their admonition against Coleman lanterns being "Scary and hard to light." Hmmm, I, too, have fears and I'm certainly not the most dexterous fellow, but I've learned that five minutes of hands-on practice can turn even the most hardcore urbanite into a safe and proficient Coleman-lantern lighter. Something tells me Mr. Stiles has not taken the time to do the same, and this casts a disconcerting pall over the value of much of his other advice. How much of it has actually been tried?

But this book is valuable for the focus it gives to architecture and perhaps encouraging one to pick up a tablet of graph paper and start sketching floorplans or facades; extract those ideas and use them as fodder for formulating your own. Read the rest with a grain of salt. For a more focused, pragmatic, and obviously tested perspective on cabin-building, get a copy of G. Wayne Fears' "How to Build Your Dream Cabin."