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O'Reilly News for User Group Members
July 22, 2005
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Book News
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-Perl Testing: A Developer's Notebook
-Write Portable Code
-Home Networking: The Missing Manual
-Perl Best Practices
-Talk Is Cheap
-Switching to VoIP
-Ending Spam
-Swing Hacks
-Word Annoyances
-Advanced Perl Programming, Second Edition
-MAKE Magazine Subscriptions Available
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Upcoming Events
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-Jeremy Zawodny ("High Performance MySQL"), Open Tech 2005,
London, UK--July 23
-UKUUG Linux 2005 Conference, University of Wales--August 4-7
-O'Reilly at LinuxWorld, San Francisco, CA--August 8-11
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Conference News
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-Visit the 2005 O'Reilly Open Source Convention Exhibit Hall for Free
-Register for the O'Reilly Open Source Convention,
Portland, OR--August 1-5
-Registration is Open for EuroOSCON
----------------------------------------------------------------
News
----------------------------------------------------------------
-New Annoyances Central Site
-O'Reilly Nominated for Lovemarks
-Choosing the Best Star Atlases
-Information Security with Colin Percival
-Calculating the True Price of Software
-Learning Lab: Save 50% on the Open Source Programming
Certificate Series
-Building an OpenBSD Live CD
-The Virtual Referral: Mitigating Risk by Hiring Open Source
Developers
-PHP 5.1's Killer Features
-David Pogue Photos from Mug Event
-Programming with Spotlight
-An Introduction to Tiger Terminal, Part 3
-How to End Wars Between Testers and Programmers
-Unit Testing in .NET Projects
-Making Internet Phone Calls Using Skype
-Taking JUnit Out of the Box
-What Is Business Process Modeling?
-What Is Podcasting?
-Gary Garritan: A Personal Orchestra for Everyone
-My Five Favorite Soft Synths
-HOW TO Make Enhanced Podcasts
-Phil Torrone on "Attack of the Show"
-MAKE Volume 03 at the Press
================================================
Book News
================================================
Did you know you can request a free book to review for your
group? Ask your group leader for more information.
For book review writing tips and suggestions, go to:
http://ug.oreilly.com/bookreviews.html
Don't forget, you can receive 30% off any O'Reilly, No Starch,
Paraglyph, Pragmatic Bookshelf, SitePoint, or Syngress book you
purchase directly from O'Reilly.
Just use code DSUG when ordering online or by phone 800-998-9938.
http://www.oreilly.com/
***Free ground shipping is available for online orders of at
least $29.95 that go to a single U.S. address. This offer
applies to U.S. delivery addresses in the 50 states and Puerto Rico.
For more details, go to:
http://www.oreilly.com/news/freeshipping_0703.html
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New Releases
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***Perl Testing: A Developer's Notebook
Publisher: O'Reilly
ISBN: 0596100922
With this series of hands-on labs, you'll learn how Perl's test tools
work and how to use them effectively. Once mastered, these lessons
will help you ensure low-level code correctness, reduce software
development cycle time, and ease maintenance burdens. You don't have
to be a diehard Perl developer to use this book; you just have to want
to do your job a little bit better.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/perltestingadn/
Chapter 4, "Distributing Your Tests (and Code)", is available online:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/perltestingadn/chapter/index.html
***Write Portable Code
Publisher: No Starch
ISBN: 1593270569
This handy book contains the lessons, patterns, and knowledge for
developing cross-platform software that programmers usually must
acquire through sheer trial and error. Targeted at
intermediate-to-advanced programmers, it is a valuable resource for
designers of cross-platform software, programmers looking to extend
their skills to additional platforms, and programmers faced with the
tricky task of moving code from one platform to another.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/1593270569/
***Home Networking: The Missing Manual
Publisher: O'Reilly
ISBN: 059600558X
Using clear language, straightforward explanations, and a dash of
humor, this Missing Manual shows you how to do everything you need to
set up a home network. Including both Windows and Mac info, it will
help you understand the difference between what you need to know to
create and use your home network and what's best left to system
administrators. http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/homenettmm/
Chapter 5, "Using the Network with Windows Computers," is available
online:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/homenettmm/chapter/index.html
***Perl Best Practices
Publisher: O'Reilly
ISBN: 0596001738
This collection of 256 guidelines on the art of coding will help you
write the best Perl code you possibly can. The guidelines cover code
layout, naming conventions, choice of data and control structures,
program decomposition, interface design and implementation,
modularity, object orientation, error handling, testing, and
debugging. Offering only guidelines that actually work, this book
presents coherent and widely applicable suggestions based on
real-world experience.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/perlbp/
Chapter 9, "Subroutines," is available online:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/perlbp/chapter/index.html
***Talk Is Cheap
Publisher: O'Reilly
ISBN: 0596009607
A straightforward, quick introduction to the ins and outs of using
VoIP and other internet telephone options, this book details how to
make the switch and what the tradeoffs will be. In addition, you will
learn advanced techniques, including how to turn your Palm or Pocket
PC into an internet phone and how to work with Wi-Fi phones and
videophones. http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/talk/
Chapter 3, "Free Internet Phone Features That You're Paying For Now,"
is available online:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/talk/chapter/index.html
***Switching to VoIP
Publisher: O'Reilly
ISBN: 0596008686
Based on real-world experience, this handy manual addresses the most
common VoIP migration challenges. Learn how to build your own VoIP
system, install it, and begin making calls. You'll also explore the
strengths and weaknesses of circuit-switched and packet-switched
networks, how VoIP systems impact network infrastructure, as well as
solutions for common challenges involved with IP voice migrations.
Ideal for IT managers, network engineers, and system administrators.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/switchingvoip/
Chapter 14, "Traditional Apps on the Converged Network," is available
online:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/switchingvoip/chapter/index.html
***Ending Spam
Publisher: No Starch
ISBN: 1593270526
This landmark title describes, in-depth, how statistical filtering is
being used by next-generation spam filters to identify and filter
spam, how spam filtering works, and how language classification and
machine learning combine to produce remarkably accurate spam filters.
Readers gain a complete understanding of the mathematical approaches
used in today's spam filters, decoding, tokenization, the use of
various
algorithms, and the benefits of using open source solutions to end
spam. http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/1593270526/
***Swing Hacks
Publisher: O'Reilly
ISBN: 0596009070
Packed with programming lessons, this book will show you how to extend
Swing's rich component set in advanced ways. The hacks touch upon the
entire Swing gamut--tables, trees, sliders, spinners, progress bars,
internal frames, and text components. You'll learn how to filter
lists, power up trees and tables, add drag-and-drop support, and
generally increase your competency with interface-building tools.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/swinghks/
Sample Hack 89, "Fun with Keyboard Lights," is available online:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/swinghks/chapter/index.html
***Word Annoyances
Publisher: O'Reilly
ISBN: 0596009542
This helpful book offers to-the-point solutions to your most vexing
editing, formatting, printing, faxing, and scanning problems. It
covers everything from installation and templates to tables, columns,
and graphics. It also provides a gentle introduction to the power of
macros so you can slay your annoyances by the truckload. The fixes
will work with most versions of Word, including Word 2000, 2002 (XP),
and 2003. http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/wordannoyances/
Chapter 3, "Text Entry and Editing," is available online:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/wordannoyances/chapter/index.html
***Advanced Perl Programming, Second Edition
Publisher: O'Reilly
ISBN: 0596004567
O'Reilly's most high-level Perl tutorial to date, this book teaches
you all the complex techniques for production-ready Perl programs.
This completely updated guide clearly explains concepts such as
introspection, overriding built-ins, extending Perl's object-oriented
model, and testing your code for greater stability. Whatever your
current level of Perl expertise, this book will help you push your
skills to the next level.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/advperl2/
Chapter 3, "Templating Tools," is available online:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/advperl2/chapter/index.html
***MAKE Magazine Subscriptions Available
The annual subscription price for four issues is $34.95. When you
subscribe with this link, you'll get a free issue--the first one plus
four more for $34.95. So subscribe for yourself or friends with this
great offer for charter subscribers: five volumes for the cost of
four. Subscribe at:
https://www.pubservice.com/MK/Subnew.aspx?PC=MK&PK=M5ZUGLA
================================================
Upcoming Events
================================================
***For more events, please see:
http://events.oreilly.com/
***Jeremy Zawodny ("High Performance MySQL"), Open Tech 2005,
London, UK--July 23
This event features "Yahoo Troublemaker" and author Jeremy Zawodny.
O'Reilly will be there selling books.
http://www.ukuug.org/events/opentech2005/
***UKUUG Linux 2005 Conference, University of Wales--August 4-7
O'Reilly will be there selling books.
http://www.ukuug.org/events/linux2005/
***O'Reilly at LinuxWorld, San Francisco, CA--August 8-11
Stop by our booth to check out our latest Linux and open source
titles. We'll also have info on some of our groovy new projects like
Make, Safari, and SafariU.
Moscone Center, Booth #818
http://www.linuxworldexpo.com/live/12/events/12SFO05A
================================================
Conference News
================================================
***Visit the 2005 O'Reilly Open Source Convention Exhibit Hall for
Free This year's OSCON Exhibit Hall is the largest in our seven-year
history, and will feature a virtual "who's who" of open source
companies. From exciting start-ups such as ActiveGrid, BlackDuck
Software, LogicBlaze, MarvelIT, Merchere, Palamida, SpikeSource,
Sourcebeat, SourceLabs, and SugarCRM to industry giants like Apple
Computer, Computer Associates, Google, HP, IBM, Intel, Novell, Sun
Microsystems, and Yahoo!, you'll find the latest software and hardware
offerings for your enterprise, small or large. To register for your
free exhibit hall pass, please visit:
http://conferences.oreillynet.com/cs/os2005/create/ord_os05
***Register for the O'Reilly Open Source Convention,
Portland, OR--August 1-5
OSCON 2005 explores three deep trends affecting open source: the
commoditization of software, network-enabled collaboration, and
software customizability. Join us at this essential gathering of open
source leaders and practitioners of every persuasion to exchange ideas
and push the boundaries of vital open source technologies. This year,
we
introduce the Open Source Business Review, along with a host of other
exciting presentations and events.
http://conferences.oreilly.com/oscon/
Use code "os05grpusr" when you register, and receive 15% off the
registration price.
To register for the conference, go to:
http://conferences.oreillynet.com/cs/os2005/create/ord_os05
***Registration is Open for EuroOSCON
Join developers, systems and network administrators, and IT managers
at the very first O'Reilly European Open Source Convention in
Amsterdam on October 17-20. EuroOSCON will explore the best and newest
open source technologies, particularly for companies, governments, and
nonprofits. EuroOSCON showcases the diversity in open source while
maintaining a practical edge.
http://conferences.oreilly.com/eurooscon/
User Group discounts are available, email [EMAIL PROTECTED] for more
information.
To register for the conference, go to:
http://conferences.oreillynet.com/cs/eurooscon/create/ord_euos05
================================================
News From O'Reilly & Beyond
================================================
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General News
---------------------
***New Annoyances Central Site
O'Reilly has just launched the new Annoyances Central weblog site,
focused on topics and issues from the Annoyances Series books. Check
out the Daily Fix, the Experts' Blog, and Robert's Rant for the most
annoying annoyances--and their fixes, of course. You can even
subscribe to the RSS feed and have piping-hot annoyances delivered
straight to you.
http://www.annoyancescentral.com/
***O'Reilly Nominated for Lovemarks
The creators of Lovemarks wondered what makes some brands wildly
inspirational and came up with Lovemarks, a celebration of respect and
loyalty. "Take a brand away and people will find a replacement. Take a
Lovemark away and people will protest its absence." Folks can nominate
brands that inspire "loyalty beyond reason," and we're thrilled to be
in the mix. Show your love!
http://www.lovemarks.com/lm/read.php?LID=2603
***Choosing the Best Star Atlases
Whether you're an observer of deep-sky objects with your 20-inch
Dobsonian reflector, or an amateur astronomer enjoying a simple night
of stargazing with your binoculars, it's helpful to know which star
atlases best suit your needs. Avid astronomers Robert and Barbara
Thompson describe the atlases they use and their reasons for choosing
them. Robert and Barbara are the authors of Astronomy Hacks.
http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/network/2005/07/18/staratlases.html
***Information Security with Colin Percival
The recent disclosure of side-channel techniques to retrieve
cryptographic secrets on hyperthreading machines caused stirs in
security and operating system development communities. Colin Percival,
a FreeBSD security officer, reported the vulnerability and weathered
the questions and criticisms. Michael W. Lucas recently interviewed
him on this vulnerability, vendors' responses, and security research.
http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/bsd/2005/07/21/Big_Scary_Daemons.html
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Open Source
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***Calculating the True Price of Software
Businesses have long viewed support and maintenance as essential
components of software. Open source business models often focus on
charging for support and customization. Is there an economic model
that can demonstrate the true worth of a piece of software and the
option for support, maintenance, and upgrades? Robert Lefkowitz argues
that open source exposes the true value of software itself as,
essentially, worth less in comparison to support and maintenance.
http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/onlamp/2005/07/21/software_pricing.html
***Learning Lab: Save 50% on the Open Source Programming Certificate
Series
Our Open Source Programming Certificate Series will teach you the core
technical skills necessary to fully understand programming using Linux
or Unix operating systems, languages, libraries, and databases.
Completion of this series also earns you a Certificate of Professional
Development through the University of Illinois Office of Continuing
Education. For two weeks only, save 50% on all Open Source Programing
Certificate Series classes. Offer ends July 31st.
http://www.oreilly.com/redirector.csp?link=UAOSP&type=news
***Building an OpenBSD Live CD
Linux isn't the only operating system that boots and runs off a CD.
OpenBSD does as well. Kevin Lo uses his for didactic purposes, but
this is a good example for taking your desktop or firewall along with
you. Here's how to build and customize an OpenBSD installation on a
CD.
***The Virtual Referral: Mitigating Risk by Hiring Open Source
Developers
Hiring a new employee is almost always a risk, and hiring the wrong
employee can prove a costly mistake for managers. Brian Fitzpatrick
suggests you hire an open source programmer. Find out why doing so
mitigates the risks involved in hiring. Meet Brian at O'Reilly's Open
Source Convention, where he'll be leading a Subversion tutorial and a
session on switching from CVS to Subversion.
http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/onlamp/2005/07/14/osdevelopers.html
***PHP 5.1's Killer Features
Learn about PHP Data Objects, perhaps the greatest new feature in PHP
5.1.
http://www.sitepoint.com/blog-post-view.php?id=274359
---------------------
Mac
---------------------
***David Pogue Photos from our recent MUG event at the Stanford Linear
Accelerator Center:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/sets/625100/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wdn2/sets/625173/
(Special Thanks to Don Nelson of DVMUG for sending these along.)
***Programming with Spotlight
The API for Spotlight offers highly advanced search capabilities. In
fact, you can develop some of the very features of Tiger we've already
grown to love using Spotlight's API. In this piece, Matthew Russell
will ease you into Spotlight programming from a Cocoa dev perspective,
showing you how to make your applications Spotlight enabled
http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2005/07/12/spotlight.html
***An Introduction to Tiger Terminal, Part 3
In Part 3 of this Tiger Terminal introduction, you'll learn some
helpful commands that you can use to view information about your
network,
including netstat, nslookup, traceroute, and more.
http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2005/07/05/terminal3.html
***How to End Wars Between Testers and Programmers
There's a natural conflict between testers and programmers because of
the difference in perspective each role has. The best way to end
struggles is to redefine the goals of the work so that their roles can
be collaborative, not adversarial. In this article, Scott Berkun draws
upon his years of project-leading experience to provide some inside
tips for managing your development team. Scott is the author of The
Art of Project Management.
http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2005/07/08/dev_team.html
---------------------
Windows/.NET
---------------------
***Unit Testing in .NET Projects
Now is a pretty exciting time for unit testing in .NET. Tremendous
progress is being made on several fronts: IDE integration, process
integration, and new test fixtures. Jay Flowers and Andrew Stopford
explain how to use Visual Studio's new integrated unit testing, as
well as the NUnit and MbUnit testing frameworks.
http://www.ondotnet.com/pub/a/dotnet/2005/07/18/unittesting_2005.html
***Making Internet Phone Calls Using Skype
Skype lets you use the internet to make phone calls to other Skype
users and also to regular telephones. Wei-Meng Lee shows you how to
set it up and start talking.
http://www.windowsdevcenter.com/pub/a/windows/2005/07/19/skype.html
---------------------
Java
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***Taking JUnit Out of the Box
JUnit is practically ubiquitous among Java developers as a way to test
code, but it's somewhat limited by the fact that it's only meant to
run in one JVM on one box, hampering its usefulness when developing
distributed applications. In this article, Amir Shevat shows how the
open source JUnit extension Pisces helps JUnit overcome this
limitation. http://www.onjava.com/pub/a/onjava/2005/07/13/pisces.html
***What Is Business Process Modeling?
Business Process Modeling (BPM) is a set of technologies and standards
for the design, execution, administration, and monitoring of business
processes. In this article, Mike Havey, author of Essential Business
Process Modeling, briefly describes the state of BPM today and the BPM
standards, then builds an ideal BPM architecture using the example of
a retailer process.
http://www.onjava.com/pub/a/onjava/2005/07/20/businessprocessmodeling.
html
---------------------
Digital Media
---------------------
***What Is Podcasting?
So, you're ready to hop on the podcasting bandwagon, but you're not
sure how to get started? This article by Phillip Torrone briefly
describes what podcasting is and the software you'll need, then takes
you right to the fun with a comprehensive step-by-step guide to
podcast production. From recording to editing to publishing and
syndicating your podcasts, Phillip covers everything you need to know
to serve up your first
podcasts.
http://digitalmedia.oreilly.com/2005/07/20/WhatIsPodcasting.html
***Gary Garritan: A Personal Orchestra for Everyone
Producer Gary Garritan has made it his mission to put a high-quality
digital orchestra in your hands--along with extensive free training.
Hear how composers have seized the opportunity.
http://digitalmedia.oreilly.com/2005/07/20/garritan.html
***My Five Favorite Soft Synths
Looking for sonic inspiration? Synthesizer guru Jim Aikin reveals his
top five virtual instruments, explains why they're great, and shares
custom MP3 examples.
http://digitalmedia.oreilly.com/2005/07/13/topsynths.html
---------------------
MAKE
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***HOW TO make Enhanced Podcasts (Images, Links, and More with Audio)
Apple's new iTunes 4.9 allows you to view (and listen to) "enhanced
podcasts." These are audio files that can have slideshows, URLs and
some cool features we have discovered. Here's how to get, make and all
you need to know about enhanced podcasts! As a bonus, MAKE has put
together some fun ideas they think many might use.
http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2005/07/how_to_make_enh.html#more
***Phil Torrone on "Attack of the Show"
Here's the video of MAKE's Associate Editor Phillip Torrone on G4TV's
Attack of the Show. The show aired on Friday, July 15. He showed off
some user submitted projects, hacks, mods, and blew up stuff with a
high powered green laser.
http://downloads.oreilly.com/make/g4tv.mov
***MAKE Volume 03 at the Press
The third volume of MAKE magazine is at the press, and we have the
Flickr photo stream to prove it. Our designers signed off on the final
cover and raved that this is the hottest volume yet. Don't be left
coveting thy neighbor's MAKE, and subscribe now!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kirk22/sets/612189/
***For more information on MAKE, go to:
http://www.makezine.com/
================================================
>From Your Peers
================================================
***Don't forget to check out the O'Reilly UG wiki to see what user
groups around the globe are up to:
http://wiki.oreillynet.com/usergroups/index.cgi
--
Neil Schneider pacneil_at_linuxgeek_dot_net
http://www.paccomp.com
Key fingerprint = 67F0 E493 FCC0 0A8C 769B 8209 32D7 1DB1 8460 C47D
Secrecy, being an instrument of conspiracy, ought never to be the
system of a regular government.
- Jeremy Bentham, jurist and philosopher (1748-1832)
--
[email protected]
http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-list
