Self learning books overload…

As any IT person knows, it is hard to find time to learn new software or skills, so comes the Self Learning books and tutorials. I went to the bookstore and saw 14 books on Adobe Flash CS3 buy different authors. Each has their own learning tools and examples but not one of them involved a real world example of what I needed to learn.

I am looking for something that teaches the basics using everyday things you see on the internet. Not everyone sells cars, boats or ski-doos, so why animate examples of these items.

Does anyone know of a good learning source for various software applications? Thanks, Dave from Michigan.