Books about Builders from Amazon.com

What exactly is a slope? What's the difference between a tile and a plate? Why is it bad to simply stack bricks in columns to make a wall? The Unofficial LEGO Builder's Guide is here to answer your questions

Focusing on building actual models with real bricks, The Unofficial LEGO Builder's Guide comes with complete instructions to build several cool models but also encourages you to use your imagination to create your own fantastic creations.

Inside, you'll learn:

• The best ways to connect bricks and creative uses for those patterns
• Tricks for calculating and using scale (it's not as hard as you think)
• The step-by-step plans to create a train station on the scale of LEGO people (a.k.a. "minifigs")
• How to build spheres, jumbo-sized LEGO bricks, micro-scaled models, and a mini space shuttle
• Tips for sorting and storing all of your LEGO pieces

The Unofficial LEGO Builder's Guide also includes the Brickopedia, a visual guide to nearly 300 of the most useful and reusable elements of the LEGO system, with historical notes, common uses, part numbers, and the year each piece first appeared in a LEGO set.

The firm foundation for your LEGO hobby starts here!

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Price: $14.38 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Product Description
In this book, authors Rich Shupe and Zevan Rosser share the knowledge they've gained from their years as multimedia developers/designers and teachers Learning ActionScript 3.0 gives you a solid foundation in the language of Flash and demonstrates how you can use it for practical, everyday projects. The authors do more than just give you a collection of sample scripts. Written for those of you new to ActionScript 3.0, the book describes how ActionScript and Flash work, giving you a clear look into essential topics such as logic, event handling, displaying content, migrating legacy projects to ActionScript 3.0, classes, and much more. You will learn important techniques through hands-on exercises, and then build on those skills as chapters progress. ActionScript 3.0 represents a significant change for many Flash users, and a steeper learning curve for the uninitiated. This book will help guide you through a variety of scripting scenarios. Rather than relying heavily on prior knowledge of object-oriented programming (OOP), topics are explained in focused examples that originate in the timeline, with optional companion classes for those already comfortable with their use. As chapters progress, the book introduces more and more OOP techniques, allowing you to choose which scripting approach you prefer. Learning ActionScript 3.0 reveals: New ways to harness the power and performance of AS3 Common mistakes that people make with the language Essential coverage of text, sound, video, XML, drawing with code, and more Migration issues from AS1 and AS2 to AS3 Simultaneous development of procedural and object-oriented techniques Tips that go beyond simple script collections, including how toapproach a project and which resources can help you along the way The companion web site contains material for all the exercises in the book, as well as short quizzes to make sure you're up to speed with key concepts. ActionScript 3.0 is a different animal from previous versions, and Learning ActionScript 3.0 teaches everything that web designers, GUI-based Flash developers, and those new to ActionScript need to start using the language.

Praise
"The best ActionScript book ever written."
-Lee Brimelow, Creator of The Flash Blog.
Price: $22.24 [Notify me when price goes down.]

How soon can you learn Adobe Flex 3? With this book's unique hands-on approach, you will be able to tinker with examples right away, and create your own Rich Internet Applications with Flex within the first few chapters As you progress, you learn how to build a layout, add interactivity, work with data, and deploy your applications to either the Web or the desktop

Learning Flex 3 offers step-by-step instructions that are clear and concise, along with tips and tricks that author Alaric Cole has gathered after years of using Flex and teaching it to fellow developers at Yahoo! You'll understand how Flex works, how to use the MXML markup language and work with ActionScript, how to deploy RIAs to the desktop using Adobe AIR, and much more.

Whether you're a beginner, or an experienced web developer coming to Flex from another platform, Learning Flex 3 is the ideal way to learn how to:

• Set up your environment with FlexBuilder and Eclipse
• Create a new Flex project
• Use the different design views in Flex
• Write code with MXML
• Lay out your Flex application
• Embed images and graphics
• Build a user interface
• Add interactivity with ActionScript
• Handle user input
• Move, display, and collect data
• Add custom components with MXML
• Add sound effects, filters, and transitions
• Style your applications with CSS, skins, and themes
• Deploy applications to the Web, or to the desktop using Adobe AIR

Also included are brief explanations of objects, classes, components, properties, methods, types, and other Flex attributes. You will find that Learning Flex 3 is not only the most complete tutorial for Flex, it's also the quickest way to get going with the latest version of this powerful framework..
Price: $22.24 [Notify me when price goes down.]

The Merriam-Webster Vocabulary Builder allows you to enjoy informative and entertaining discussions of English words derived from Greek and Latin roots--and expand your working vocabulary at the same time. Words that share the same root are grouped for easy study. Quizzes let you test how much you've learned..
Price: $1.20 [Notify me when price goes down.]

A thorough, informative, and up-to-date reference on green, sustainable and energy-efficient home construction that clarifies definitions of green and sustainable and guides builders and architects through the process of new or remodel green construction, including issues of site, landscaping, durability, and energy-efficiency. It starts with clear explanations of the concepts and fundamentals of green, healthy and energy-efficient construction and walks the reader through the entire construction process, injecting expert advice at every decision point. Construction techniques, materials, and products are thoroughly explained, making the often vaguely understood concepts cleanly understandable. The book gives builders and architects the tools to respond to growing requests from homeowners for green and energy-efficient houses, whether new or remodeled. Homeowners can use the book to understand the concepts, process, and options, whether they're doing it themselves or working with a professional..
Price: $15.24 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Creating the perfect loaf of bread--a challenge that has captivated bakers for centuries--is now the rage in the hippees places, from Waitsfield, Vermont, to Point Reyes Station, California. Like the new generation of beer drinkers who consciously seek out distinctive craft-brewed beers, many people find that their palates have been reawakened and re-educated by the taste of locally baked, whole-grain breads. Today's village bakers are finding an important new role--linking tradition with a sophisticated new understanding of natural levens, baking science and oven construction.
Daniel Wing, a lover of all things artisinal, had long enjoyed baking his own sourdough bread. His quest for the perfect loaf began with serious study of the history and chemistry of bread baking, and eventually led to an apprenticeship with Alan Scott, the most influential builder of masonry ovens in America.
Alan and Daniel have teamed up to write this thoughtful, entertaining, and authoritative book that shows you how to bake superb healthful bread and build your own masonry oven. The authors profile more than a dozen small-scale bakers around the U.S. whose practices embody the holistic principles of community-oriented baking based on whole grains and natural leavens.
The Bread Builders will appeal to a broad range of readers, including:

Connoisseurs of good bread and good food.

Home bakers interested in taking their bread and pizza to the next level of excellence.

Passionate bakers who fantasize about making a living by starting their own small bakery.

Do-it-yourselfers looking for the next small construction project.

Small-scale commercial bakers seeking inspiration, the most up-to-date knowledge about the entire bread-baking process, and a marketing edge.

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Price: $20.91 [Notify me when price goes down.]

If you want to try your hand at developing rich Internet applications with Adobe's Flex 3, and already have experience with frameworks such as .NET or Java, this is the ideal book to get you started. Programming Flex 3 gives you a solid understanding of Flex 3's core concepts, and valuable insight into how, why, and when to use specific Flex features. Numerous examples and sample code demonstrate ways to build complete, functional applications for the Web, using the free Flex SDK, and RIAs for the desktop, using Adobe AIR. This book is an excellent companion to Adobe's Flex 3 reference documentation. With this book, you will:

Learn the underlying details of the Flex framework Program with MXML and ActionScript Arrange the layout and deal with UI components Work with media Manage state for applications and components Use transitions and effects Debug your Flex applications Create custom components Embed Flex applications in web browsers Build AIR applications for the desktop

Flex 3 will put you at the forefront of the RIA revolution on both the Web and the desktop. Programming Flex 3 will help you get the most from this amazing and sophisticated technology..
Price: $31.18 [Notify me when price goes down.]

-- Provides simple techniques for accurate measuring using a number of basic tools.
Price: $15.08 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Here for the first time is a complete visual handbook designed for architects, builders, students, and anyone else interested in wood-frame construction. Inside you'll find hundreds of meticulous drawings illustrating every detail you might ever want to know about when building wood, whether you're building basement walls or framing a chimney opening.

This wealth of visual information is mined from actual jobsites. Special attention is given throughout to durability and to energy efficiency..
Price: $18.95 [Notify me when price goes down.]

The best way to show off a powerful new technology is to demonstrate real-world results with it, and that's exactly what Adobe and O'Reilly have done with Flex 3. Through it's Flex Cookbook website, Adobe invited users of the Flex 3 beta to post their own solutions for working with this technology, using O'Reilly's popular problem-solution-discussion format. Website monitors (and authors) Joshua Noble and Todd Anderson chose the most useful solutions for Flex 3 Cookbook. This highly practical book contains more than 200 proven recipes for developing interactive Rich Internet Applications and Web 2.0 sites, including several contributed by Noble, Anderson, and other Flex experts. You'll find everything from Flex basics and working with menus and controls, to methods for compiling, deploying, and configuring Flex applications. Each recipe features a discussion of how and why it works, and many of them offer sample code that you can put to use immediately. Topics include: Menus and controls Containers and dialogues Working with Text List, tiles, trees, and repeaters DataGrid and Advanced DataGrid Renderers Images, videos, and sounds CSS and skinning Building components States and effects Collections, arrays, and DataProviders DataBinding Validation/formatters Charting and data visualization State management, SharedObjects and LocalConnection Working with services and ServerSide communication Working with XML Communicating with the browser Application development strategies Runtime and dynamic shared libraries and modules Working with Adobe AIR Whether you're a committed Flex developer, or still evaluating the technology, you'll discover how to get quick results with Flex 3 using thesethese recipes. Now that Flex is an open source framework, the user community will continue to supply solutions to extend and improve the technology. This Cookbook offers you the cream of the crop..
Price: $25.29 [Notify me when price goes down.]