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O'Reilly News for User Group Members
January 20, 2005
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Book News
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-QuickTime for Java: A Developer's Notebook
-Excel: The Missing Manual
-Learning Windows Server 2003
-Excel Annoyances
-Degunking eBay
-Google Hacks, 2nd Edition
-AspectJ Cookbook
-The Book of Postfix
-Home Hacking Projects for Geeks
-Windows XP Home Edition: The Missing Manual, 2nd Edition
-Illustrations with Photoshop: A Designer's Notebook
-Small Web Sites, Great Results
-Learning GNU Emacs, 3rd Edition
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Upcoming Events
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-O'Reilly at LinuxWorld, Boston, MA--Feb 15-17
-Mark Lutz ("Programming Python") at Python Bootcamp,
Atlanta, GA--Feb 21-25
-Allison Randal ("Perl 6 and Parrot Essentials") at UKUUG's 2005
LISA/Winter Conference, Birmingham, UK--Feb 24-25
-FOSDEM, Brussels, Belgium--Feb 26-27
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Conference News
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-OSCON Call For Proposals now open
-Early Registration ends January 31 for the 2005 O'Reilly
Emerging Technology Conference San Diego, CA--March 14-17
-Registration Is Open for the 2005 MySQL Users Conference,
Santa Clara, CA--April 18-21
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News
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-Race for the Ultimate Car Hacks
-"Make" subscriptions now available--Just in Case you Missed
This Last Time
-Color for Coders--Color and Design for the Non-Designer
-Designing for Clients Made Easy
-Printing XML: Why CSS Is Better than XSL
-A Review of PalmOne’s Zire 72 and 31
-BoundCast interview with Andy Hertzfeld, author of "Revolution in
the Valley"
-A Podcast With Wallace Wang, author of "Steal This File Sharing Book"
-Network Installation of Windows Printers from Samba
-An Introduction to Quality Assurance
-Macworld 1984
-A RAW Look at iPhoto 5
-How to Use mutt, FastMail, and Mail.app Together on Your Mac
-Disk Cleanup Hacks
-Using SQL Cache Dependency
-Run Mac OS X on a PC
-Parsing an XML Document with XPath
-Mock Objects in Unit Tests
-Time-Saving Digital GEM Plug-Ins for Photoshop
-Frank Serafine: Turning Elephants into Explosions
================================================
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 20% 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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***QuickTime for Java: A Developer's Notebook
Publisher: O'Reilly
ISBN:0596008228
Java developers who need to add audio, video, or interactive media
creation and playback to their applications find that QuickTime Java
is a powerful toolkit, but one that's not easy to get into. This book
offers the first real look at this important software with an
informal,
code-intensive style that lets impatient early adopters focus on
learning by doing. You get just the functionality you need.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/quicktimejvaadn/
Chapter 5, "Working with QuickDraw," is available online:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/quicktimejvaadn/chapter/index.html
***Excel: The Missing Manual
Publisher: O'Reilly
ISBN: 0596006640
Whether you're an Excel neophyte, a sophisticate who knows the program
inside out, or an intermediate-level plodder, this "Missing Manual"
will become your go-to resource for all things Excel. Covering all the
features of Excel 2002 and 2003, this easy-to-read, thorough, and
downright enjoyable book is an indispensable guide to one of the most
popular and complicated computer programs. It has all you need to
excel at Excel. http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/exceltmm/
Chapter 4, "Formatting Worksheets," is available online:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/exceltmm/chapter/index.html
***Learning Windows Server 2003
Publisher: O'Reilly
ISBN: 0596006241
"Windows Server 2003" is the right server for a world dominated by
enterprise networks and web-based server applications, but getting
this server up and running is a formidable task. This no-fluff guide
gives you exactly what you need for installing, configuring, securing,
and managing Server 2003, and offers hands-on advice for planning,
implementing, and growing Windows networks without trying to teach you
how to be a system administrator.
Chapter 10, "Windows Terminal Services," is available online:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/lwinsvr2003/chapter/index.html
***Excel Annoyances
Publisher: O'Reilly
ISBN: 0596007280
At last, Excel users have some relief. This book addresses all of the
quirks, bugs, inconsistencies, and hidden features found in the
various versions of Excel. Broken into easy-to-follow categories, such
as Entering Data, Formatting, Charting, and Printing, "Excel
Annoyances" reveals a goldmine of helpful nuggets you can use to
maximize Excel's seemingly limitless potential. If you've found
anything about Excel confusing, you'll learn how to address it here.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/excelannoyances/
Chapter 3, "Formula Annoyances," is available online:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/excelannoyances/chapter/index.html
***Degunking eBay
Publisher: Paraglyph Press
ISBN: 1932111999
"Degunking eBay" will show you how to maximize your buying and selling
opportunities, how to clean up and optimize your strategies, how to
get organized and save valuable time and money, and how to protect
yourself from scams and rip-offs--in short, how to clean up and speed
up your transactions on eBay so you run an efficient and profitable
business. http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/1932111999/
***Google Hacks, 2nd Edition
Publisher: O'Reilly
ISBN: 0596008570
Featuring dozens of refreshed hacks, plus 25 completely new ones, this
updated edition of "Google Hacks" is a collection of real-world
solutions to practical Google research problems. Thanks to these
industrial-strength tips, now you can easily save hours of research
time mining Google. Best of all, each of the book's 100 hacks is easy
to read and digest; there's no confusing terminology or extraneous
information to hamper your
understanding.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/googlehks2/
Sample hacks are available online:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/googlehks2/chapter/index.html
***AspectJ Cookbook
Publisher: O'Reilly
ISBN: 0596006543
This hands-on book shows readers why and how common Java development
problems can be solved by using new Aspect-oriented programming (AOP)
techniques. With a wide variety of code recipes for solving day-to-day
design and coding problems using AOP's unique approach, "AspectJ
Cookbook" demonstrates that AOP is more than just a concept: it's a
development process that will benefit users in an immediate and
visible manner. http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/aspectjckbk/
Sample excerpts are available online:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/aspectjckbk/chapter/index.html
***The Book of Postfix
Publisher: No Starch Press
ISBN: 1593270011
Developed with security and speed in mind, Postfix has become a
popular alternative to sendmail and comes preinstalled in many Linux
distributions as the default mailer. "The Book of Postfix" is a
complete guide to Postfix whether used at home, as a mailrelay or
virus-scanning gateway, or as a company mailserver. Practical examples
show how to deal with daily challenges like protecting mail users from
spam and viruses, managing multiple domains, and offering roaming
access.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/1593270011/
***Home Hacking Projects for Geeks
Publisher: O'Reilly
ISBN: 0596004052
"Home Hacking Projects for Geeks" presents a wide range of projects,
from automating light switches to building home theaters using Windows
or Linux-based PCs to building home security systems that rival those
offered by professional security consultants. The thirteen projects in
the book are divided into three categories: Home Automation, Home
Entertainment Systems, and Security. Designed for hackers of all skill
levels, this fun, new guide combines creativity with electricity and
power tools to achieve cool, and sometimes even practical-home
automation projects.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/homehpfg/
Sample excerpts are available online:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/homehpfg/chapter/index.html
***Windows XP Home Edition: The Missing Manual, 2nd Edition
Publisher: O'Reilly
ISBN: 059600897X
This comprehensive guide offers a wealth of tips, instructions, and
expert advice dedicated to making your time with Windows XP safer,
easier, and more fun. It's perfectly suited for both first-time PC
fans and budding power users. Best of all, it's been updated to
include Service Pack 2 (SP2), so you can better defend yourself
against viruses, worms, and hackers. Fill the void in XP documentation
with the technical insight, crystal-clear objectivity, and humor that
define the Missing Manuals series.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/windowsxptmm2/
***Illustrations with Photoshop: A Designer's Notebook
Publisher: O'Reilly
ISBN: 0596008597
World-renowned French artists share their exciting and innovative
digital creations in this first-time English translation of their
cutting-edge work. The images in this book will energize image
professionals, graphic artists, photographers, and computer graphics
designers--all creators of images, whether still or animated--and will
forever change the way you see and perform your design work. This
visually stunning book will give you the creative license and
technical knowledge needed to create
one-of-a-kind digital illustrations with Photoshop. You are limited
only by your imagination.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/illustphotoadn/
***Small Web Sites, Great Results
Publisher: Paraglyph Press
ISBN: 1932111905
Simplicity leads to great results. This book offers design guidelines
to make websites look professional even on a small scale, techniques
to get more hits from search engines, and much more that will help
readers construct a holistic web presence that garners real results.
The simple website system described in the book includes a series of
pages and scripts that users can download and instantly put to use on
their own sites.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/1932111905/
***Learning GNU Emacs, 3rd Edition
Publisher: O'Reilly
ISBN: 0596006489
"Learning GNU Emacs, 3rd Edition" shows readers how to get started
with the GNU Emacs editor. This thorough guide grows with you: as you
become more proficient, it teaches you how to use Emacs more
effectively. The new edition describes Emacs 21.3 from the ground up,
including new
user-interface features such as an icon-based toolbar and an
interactive interface to Emacs customization. There's also a new
chapter that details how to install, run, and use Emacs on Mac OS X,
Windows, and Linux. http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/gnu3/
Chapter 6, "Writing Macros," is available online:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/gnu3/chapter/index.html
================================================
Upcoming Events
================================================
***For more events, please see:
http://events.oreilly.com/
***O'Reilly at LinuxWorld, Boston, MA--Feb 15-17
Stop by our booth (#509) to check out our latest Linux and open source
titles and listen to our authors including Jonathan Corbet ("Linux
Device Drivers, 3rd Ed."), Kyle D. Dent ("Postfix: The Definitive
Guide"), Jay Beale "Snort 2.1 Intrusion Detection, 2nd Ed.", Sam Hiser
and Tom
Adelstein ("Exploring the JDS Linux Desktop"), and Adam Trachtenberg
("PHP Cookbook").
http://www.linuxworldexpo.com/live/12/events/12BOS05A
***Mark Lutz ("Programming Python") at Python Bootcamp,
Atlanta, GA--Feb 21-25
Mark will be teaching a week-long Python Bootcamp retreat for Big Nerd
Ranch, based on his books.
http://www.bignerdranch.com/about/python0205pr.shtml
***Allison Randal ("Perl 6 and Parrot Essentials") at UKUUG's 2005
LISA/Winter Conference, Birmingham, UK--Feb 24-25
Author and editor Allison Randal presents a Perl 6 Workshop at this
event.
http://www.ukuug.org/events/winter2005/
***FOSDEM, Brussels, Belgium--Feb 26-27
O'Reilly is a Cornerstone sponsor of the fifth Free and Open Source
Software Developers' European Meeting, a 2 day event organized by
volunteers. Stop by our stand to check out our latest books and chat
with editor and author Allison Randal (Perl 6 and Parrot Essentials),
who will also be there.
http://www.fosdem.org/2005
================================================
Conference News
================================================
***OSCON Call For Proposals Now Open
Circle August 1-5 on your calendar and join us at the O'Reilly Open
Source Convention in beautiful Portland, Oregon. OSCON 2005 will be at
the Oregon Convention Center, where we'll have tutorials, sessions,
parties, BOFs, and a huge exhibit hall.
http://conferences.oreillynet.com/os2005/
The call for participation is open, and you're invited to submit a
proposal to lead tutorials and sessions. Visit the submissions page
for all the details on tracks and proposal guidelines. Proposals are
due no later than February 13, 2005.
http://conferences.oreillynet.com/cs/os2005/create/e_sess
***Early Registration ends January 31 for the 2005 O'Reilly Emerging
Technology Conference San Diego, CA--March 14-17
Early Bird registration for ETech has just opened. This year's
conference theme is "Remix," which infuses ETech's
roll-up-your-sleeves tutorials, to-the-point plenary presentations,
and real world focused breakout sessions. Come to ETech and discover
how applications and hardware are being deconstructed and recombined
in unexpected ways. Learn how users and customers are influencing new
interfaces, devices, business models, and services. For all the scoop
on tutorials, featured speakers, and
conference events, check out:
http://conferences.oreillynet.com/etech/
User Group members who register before January 31, 2005 get a double
discount. Use code DSUG when you register, and receive 20% off the
early registration price.
To register for the conference, go to:
http://conferences.oreillynet.com/cs/et2005/create/ord_et05
***Registration Is Open for the 2005 MySQL Users Conference,
Santa Clara, CA--April 18-21
The MySQL Users Conference, co-presented by O'Reilly Media and MySQL
AB, brings together experts, users, and industry leaders with unique
MySQL insights, offering attendees a detailed look into new features
in MySQL 5.0, sessions and workshops designed to teach best practices,
and exposure to new open source technologies.
For more information, go to:
http://www.mysqluc.com/
User Group members who register before Febuary 28, 2005 get a double
discount. Use code DSUG when you register, and receive 20% off the
early registration price.
To register for the conference, go to:
http://conferences.oreillynet.com/cs/mysqluc2005/create/ord_mysql05
================================================
News From O'Reilly & Beyond
================================================
---------------------
General News
---------------------
***Race for the Ultimate Car Hacks
"People have been tinkering with their cars since the first horseless
buggy hit the road. Now, thanks to onboard computerized systems that
control everything from engine management systems to radios, hackers
can customize their rides in ways that are likely to have Henry Ford
doing back flips in his grave." TechnologyReview.com writer Michelle
Delio speaks with Damien Stolarz, CEO of Carbot, and Raffi Krikorian,
director of Synthesis Studios.
http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/04/12/wo_delio121604.asp?trk=nl
Join Damien and Raffi at O'Reilly's upcoming ETech for their tutorial,
"Hack Sci-Fi Features into Your Car."
http://conferences.oreillynet.com/cs/et2005/view/e_sess/6242
***"Make" subscriptions now available--Just in Case you Missed
this Last Time
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
***Color for Coders--Color and Design for the Non-Designer
Programmers do have to work with color sometimes, but even the least
artistic coder can choose snappy color combinations with Jason
Beaird's handy how-to. This tutorial cuts through the artsy hyperbole
to provide the nuts and bolts of color theory--and its practical
application. http://www.sitepoint.com/article/color-for-coders
***Designing for Clients Made Easy
Clients can be among the biggest hurdles to a web design project's
success. Astute designers use a number of tactics to ensure they keep
the project in control, on time, and on budget...and have some
creative fun along the way.
http://www.sitepoint.com/article/designing-for-clients-made-easy
***Printing XML: Why CSS Is Better than XSL
One of the old school debates among XML developers is "CSS versus
XSLT." Hakun Wium Lie and Michael Day revive that debate with a shot
across XSL's bow.
http://www.xml.com/pub/a/2005/01/19/print.html
***A Review of PalmOne’s Zire 72 and 31
Wei-Meng Lee takes a look at a couple of PalmOne devices, and is
pleased by what he finds.
http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/wireless/2005/01/17/zire.html
---------------------
Audio Webcasts
---------------------
***BoundCast interview with Andy Hertzfeld, author of "Revolution
in the Valley"
This is the first of a two part series interview with Andy Hertzfield
that covers his book "Revolution in the Valley," Apple, and the
future. http://www.boundcast.com/
***A Podcast With Wallace Wang, author of "Steal This File Sharing
Book" Wallace and Denise Howell discuss the future of P2P networks,
nefarious knitters, macchiato moms, the Ninth Circuit's Grokster
decision, the economics of digital media, and other topics.
http://www.thestandard.com/movabletype/denisehowell/archives/000825.php
---------------------
Open Source
---------------------
***Network Installation of Windows Printers from Samba
The combination of Samba and CUPS makes network printing on a mixed
Linux/Windows LAN easier than ever. You can share Linux printers with
Windows clients, and Windows printers with Linux clients. A
Linux/Samba/CUPS printer server is reliable and reasonably simple to
set up and maintain. Carla Schroder, author of "Linux Cookbook," shows
you how.
http://www.linuxdevcenter.com/pub/a/linux/2005/01/13/lnxckbk_samba.html
***An Introduction to Quality Assurance
The libraries and syntax for automated testing are easy to find. The
mindset of quality and testability is harder to adopt. Tom McTighe
reviews the basic principles of quality assurance that can make the
difference between a "working" application and a high-quality
application.
http://www.perl.com/pub/a/2005/01/13/quality_assurance.html
---------------------
Mac
---------------------
***Macworld 1984 Animation
As seen at Macworld Live! with David Pogue at the recent Macworld Expo
San Francisco 2005.
http://www.macboy.com/macworld/index.html
***A RAW Look at iPhoto 5
Apple overhauled much of iPhoto in version 5 and presented
photographers with a more robust tool for managing their media files.
Derrick Story looks at importing existing iPhoto libraries, using the
new editing tools, and working with RAW and QuickTime files. Image
samples of RAW comparisons are included.
http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2005/01/19/iphoto5.html
***How to Use mutt, FastMail, and Mail.app Together on Your Mac
Many Linux users who are adding Mac OS X to their computing life look
to combine the control of command line with the convenience of GUI. In
this article, Philip Hollenback, a seasoned Linux user himself, shows
how to bring these worlds together on Mac OS X using mutt, FastMail,
and
Mail.app.
http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2005/01/18/fastmail.html
---------------------
Windows/.NET
---------------------
***Disk Cleanup Hacks
No matter how much space you have on your hard disk, it's never
enough. Mitch Tulloch, author of "Windows Server Hacks," shows you
better ways to clean your hard disk quickly.
http://www.windowsdevcenter.com/pub/a/windows/2005/01/18/disk_cleanup.html
***Using SQL Cache Dependency
Caching has long been recognized as one of the more effective ways to
improve your ASP.NET web applications. One particular caching feature
missing in ASP.NET 1.x was SQL cache dependency: the ability to
invalidate a database cache if data in a table is changed. In ASP.NET
2.0, Microsoft has added the new SQL cache dependency feature.
Wei-Meng Lee discusses the SQL cache dependency in ASP.NET 2.0, and
how you can manually implement it in ASP.NET 1.x.
http://www.ondotnet.com/pub/a/dotnet/2005/01/17/sqlcachedependency.html
***Run Mac OS X on a PC
You can get the best of both worlds--you can run the real Mac OS X on
your own PC. Wei-Meng Lee shows you how to run the Mac operating
system on an emulator called PearPC.
http://www.windowsdevcenter.com/pub/a/windows/2005/01/18/PearPC.html
---------------------
Java
---------------------
***Parsing an XML Document with XPath
Pulling just a single node value or attribute from an XML document can
be inefficient if you have to parse over a whole list of nodes you
don't want, just to get to one you do. XPath can be much more
efficient, by letting you specify the path to the desired node up
front. J2SE adds XPath support, and the JDOM API also offers support
through an XPath class. Deepak Vohra looks at both approaches.
http://www.onjava.com/pub/a/onjava/2005/01/12/xpath.html
***Mock Objects in Unit Tests
Unit testing your code against a service or process that's either too
expensive (commercial databases) or just not done yet is something you
can deal with by simulating the other piece with a mock object.
EasyMock can suffice in some cases, but it can only create mock
objects for interfaces. Mocquer, based on the Dunamis project, can
create mocks for classes, too. Lu Jian shows how it works.
http://www.onjava.com/pub/a/onjava/2005/01/12/mocquer.html
---------------------
Digital Media
---------------------
***Time-Saving Digital GEM Plug-Ins for Photoshop
Removing noise from images or trying to retouch facial blemishes is
time-consuming work. Fortunately these Photoshop plug-ins from Kodak's
Austin Development Center can help photographers work more
efficiently. Derrick Story takes them for a spin.
http://digitalmedia.oreilly.com/2005/01/05/kodak_plugins.html
***Frank Serafine: Turning Elephants into Explosions
Academy Award-winning sound designer Frank Serafine discusses the art
and science of sound effects, tape-baking, and why selling all his
analog gear on eBay made him happier musically.
http://digitalmedia.oreilly.com/2005/01/12/serafine_0105.html
================================================
>From Your Peers
===============================================
Don't forget to check out the O'Reilly UG wiki to see what user groups
across the globe are up to:
http://wiki.oreillynet.com/usergroups/index.cgi
--
Neil Schneider pacneil_at_linuxgeek_dot_net
http://www.paccomp.com
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