O’Reilly News for User Group Members
November 23, 2004

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Book News
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-Treo Fan Book
-PowerBook Fan Book
-iBook Fan Book
-Xbox Fan Book
-Securing Windows Server 2003
-The CSS Anthology: 101 Essential Tips, Tricks & Hacks
-Oracle Utilities Pocket Reference
-Programmer’s Ultimate Security DeskRef
-Unit Test Frameworks
-Inside the Spam Cartel
-PC Hacks
-Degunking Your Email, Spam, and Viruses
-Gaming Hacks
-Smart Home Hacks
-Head First Design Patterns
-Knoppix Hacks
-Windows to Linux Migration Toolkit
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Upcoming Events
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-Wil Wheaton (“Just a Geek”), Barnes & Noble,
Huntington Beach, CA–November 30
-Nathan Torkington (“Perl Cookbook”), Open Source
Developers’ Conference, Melbourne, Australia–December 1-3
-Gordon Meyer (“Smart Home Hacks”), DigitalGuru,
Sunnyvale, CA–December 15
—————————————————————-
Conference News
—————————————————————-
-Registration is Open for O’Reilly Emerging Technology Conference,
San Diego, CA– March 14-17, 2005
—————————————————————-
News
—————————————————————-
-O’Reilly author Wil Wheaton Just Added as a Speaker at Macworld
San Francisco
-Interesting Work for Interesting People
-Hacks for Smart Homes
-“Spam Kings” Author Shares Insights, Spam-Prevention Tips
-Open Source Licenses Are Not All the Same
-make: The Evolution and Alternatives
-The Youngest “Learning Python” Fan
-Write a Webserver in 100 Lines of Code or Less
-iPod Photo: Breakthrough Device or Work in Progress?
-Building Simple Lists Using Strings in VBA
-Skins and Themes
-Extending Struts
-Take the ONJava.com Survey
-Creating iPod Tattoos
-Could Ringtones Be More Annoying?!
—————————————————————-
From Your Peers
—————————————————————-
-First Annual New York Technical Community Holiday Party, NY, NY–
December 15
-London Perl Workshop, London, UK–December 11
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Book News
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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
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Just use code DSUG when ordering online or by phone 800-998-9938.
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For more details, go to:
http://www.oreilly.com/news/freeshipping_0703.html

—————————————————————-
New Releases
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***Treo Fan Book
Publisher: O’Reilly
ISBN: 0596008163
Owners of the Treo smartphone from palmOne will master their revolutionary
little do-all device in no time flat with the new “Treo Fan Book.” This
unbeatable reference guide contains all the information people need–and
want–to know about the combined mobile phone/Palm-powered
organizer/wireless email, text messaging, and web-browsing tool/digital
camera.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/treofb/index.html

***PowerBook Fan Book
Publisher: O’Reilly
ISBN: 0596008171
This is the perfect guide for mastering all the features and taking
advantage of the advanced capabilities of Apple’s most desirable laptop.
The “PowerBook Fan Book” takes readers through the process of getting
familiar with their new machine and OS X Panther, learning handy tricks
and using high-end features, and finding out about little-known but
gotta-have accessories for their sleek and speedy new PowerBook.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/powerbkfb/index.html

***iBook Fan Book
Publisher: O’Reilly
ISBN: 0596008619
Anyone who owns an ultra-thin iBook can count on the “iBook Fan Book” to
give them everything they need to make the stylish little white wonder
work–and play–just as hard as they do. The book covers: getting familiar
with Mac OS X Panther; organizing a digital lifestyle; using advanced features;
enjoying iBook at home, at the office, and on the go; minimizing time and
stress; and maximizing fun and productivity.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/ibkfanbk/index.html

***Xbox Fan Book
Publisher: O’Reilly
ISBN: 0596008848
With cool 3D graphics, mind-boggling animation, and
devastatingly real audio, Microsoft’s Xbox is the most powerful and
popular gaming machine ever created. And now, the half-million (and
growing) gamers who own one have a reliable, all-purpose reference book
to guide them to the ultimate video game triumph: the top score! The “Xbox
Fan Book” covers using the console, enhancing the multimedia experience,
online play, recommended games like Halo, and accessories such as the
Xbox DVD Playback Kit.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/xboxfanbk/index.html

***Securing Windows Server 2003
Publisher: O’Reilly
ISBN: 0596006853
If you use Windows 2003 Server at a small- to medium-sized organization,
or if you use Microsoft’s Small Business Server, this thorough yet concise
tutorial offers the hands-on advice you need to secure your network. The
book focuses on ways to plan and implement a secure operating environment,
using real-world examples to show you how various security concepts relate
to your own system. Read it cover to cover to create and implement a
security plan, or use individual chapters as standalone lessons.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/securews/

Chapter 4, “File System Security,” is available online:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/securews/chapter/index.html

***The CSS Anthology: 101 Essential Tips, Tricks & Hacks
Publisher: SitePoint
ISBN: 0957921888
Make your site easier to maintain and faster to load with Cascading Style
Sheets. This book answers the 101 most common CSS questions about
everything from styling text to using CSS for layout. Plus, you’ll learn
how to use CSS to create accessible and standards-compliant web sites. All
solutions and effects are cross-browser compatible and easy to customize.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/0957921888/

***Oracle Utilities Pocket Reference
Publisher: O’Reilly
ISBN: 0596008996
“Oracle Utilities Pocket Reference” is a quick-reference guide to the
multitude of Oracle utilities that database administrators use every day.
Packed with information in an easy-to-read format, this compact resource
supplies the syntax and options for whatever utility a DBA needs to
perform a given task. Some of the utilities documented include:
SQL*Loader, for loading data; expdp and exp for exporting data to another
database; oradebug for use in troubleshooting; and loadjava and dropjava
for loading and unloading Java programs.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/oracleutilpr/

A sample excerpt, “expdp,” is available online:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/oracleutilpr/

***Programmer’s Ultimate Security DeskRef
Publisher: Syngress
ISBN: 1932266720
“The Programmer’s Ultimate Security DeskRef” is the only complete desk
reference covering multiple languages and their inherent security issues.
It will serve as the programming encyclopedia for almost every major
language in use. While there are many books starting to address the broad
subject of security best practices within the software development
lifecycle, none has yet to address the overarching technical problems of
incorrect function usage. Most books fail to draw the line from covering
best practices security principles to actual code implementation. This
book bridges that gap and covers the most popular programming languages
such as Java, Perl, C++, C#, and Visual Basic.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/1932266720/

***Unit Test Frameworks
Publisher: O’Reilly
ISBN: 0596006896
This is the only book to explore unit testing as a language-independent,
standalone development methodology. It covers the theory and methodology
of unit test frameworks, offers instruction in unit test development,
provides useful code examples in both Java and C++, and details the most
commonly used frameworks from the XUnit family, including JUnit for Java,
CppUnit for C++, and NUnit for .NET. It also includes the complete source
code for CppUnit for C++ and NUnit for .NET.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/unitest/

Chapter 3, “The xUnit Family of Unit Test Frameworks,” is available
online:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/unitest/chapter/index.html

***Inside the Spam Cartel
Publisher: Syngress
ISBN: 1932266860
“Inside the Spam Cartel” is a methodical, technically explicit expose of
the inner workings of the spam economy. The book offers you a view inside
this dark underworld, the sophistication and sheer size of which will
shock you. You’ll meet the characters that control the flow of money as
well as the hackers and programmers committed to keeping the enterprise up
and running. You may disagree with their objectives, but you’ll marvel at
their ingenuity and resourcefullness in defeating spam filters, avoiding
identification, and staying one step ahead of the law.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/1932266860/

***PC Hacks
Publisher: O’Reilly
ISBN: 0596007485
“PC Hacks” shows you how to enhance performance and prevent problems with
your PC. You’ll learn about hacking the system board, BIOS, peripherals,
and operating system, and overclocking CPU and video cards, tweaking RAM
timing, and selecting the best performing components. This step-by-step,
hack-by-hack guide covers both Windows and Linux, and includes advice on
reusing an old PC to offload work from newer systems, as well as ways to
prevent security problems.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/pchks/

Sample hacks are available online:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/pchks/chapter/index.html

***Degunking Your Email, Spam, and Viruses
Publisher: Paraglyph Press
ISBN: 193211193X
“Degunking Your Email, Spam, and Viruses” outlines Paraglyph’s unique
12-step Degunking program, written in everyday language for all computer
users, that will teach you all the tried-and-true techniques to keep your
computer clutter-free and running well. The “Degunking with Time
Limitations” chart shows how you can improve your computer’s performance
and keep your email better organized, whether you have ten minutes or a
few hours. The book also provides information and links to free utilities
and programs that will help you get rid of viruses, manage your email
better, and protect your computer.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/193211193X/

***Gaming Hacks
Publisher: O’Reilly
ISBN: 0596007140
It doesn’t take long for an avid or just wickedly clever gamer to be
chafed by the limitations of videogame software and hardware. If you want
to go far beyond the obvious, there’s a tremendous amount of free fun you
can have by following the creative exploits of the gaming gurus. “Gaming
Hacks” is the indispensable guide to cool things gamers can do to create,
modify, and hack videogame hardware and software.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/gaminghks/

Five sample hacks are available online:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/gaminghks/chapter/index.html

***Smart Home Hacks
Publisher: O’Reilly
ISBN: 0596007221
“Smart Home Hacks” covers a litany of stand-alone and integrated smart
home solutions designed to enhance safety, comfort, and convenience in new
and existing homes. Learn how to equip your home with motion detectors for
added security, install computer-controlled lights for optimum
convenience, mount an in-home web cam or two purely for entertainment, and
much more. No matter what your technical level may be, this book will help
you achieve the automated home of your dreams.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/smarthomehks/

Sample hacks are available online:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/smarthomehks/chapter/index.html

***Head First Design Patterns
Publisher: O’Reilly
ISBN: 0596007124
In the manner of O’Reilly’s popular new Head First Series, “Head First
Design Patterns” is visually rich and designed for the way your brain
works. Applying teaching techniques developed in response to the latest
research in neurobiology, cognitive science, and learning theory, the book
will load patterns into your brain in a way that sticks. You’ll be able to
put what you’ve learned to work immediately, and you’ll find that you’re
better at solving software design problems. Become fluent in the language
of Design Patterns by putting your head first.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/hfdesignpat/

***Knoppix Hacks
Publisher: O’Reilly
ISBN: 0596007876
“Knoppix Hacks” is an invaluable collection of 100 industrial-strength
hacks for new Linux users, power users, and system administrators who are
using or considering the Knoppix Live CD, which is included with the book.
These tips and tools show how to use the live CD to troubleshoot, repair,
upgrade, disinfect, and generally be productive without Windows, and
without the difficulty of installing Linux itself.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/knoppixhks/

Five sample hacks are available online:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/knoppixhks/chapter/index.html

***Windows to Linux Migration Toolkit
Publisher: Syngress
ISBN: 1931836396
“Windows to Linux Migration Toolkit” is a unique book that offers a
complete solution for migrating from Windows to Linux. It provides
migration process planning, automated migration scripts,
anti-virus/anti-spam solutions, and specific migration and deployment.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/1931836396/

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Upcoming Events
================================================
***For more events, please see:
http://events.oreilly.com/

***Wil Wheaton (“Just a Geek”), Barnes & Noble,
Huntington Beach, CA–November 30
Don’t miss Wil reading from his autobiography. He will be there from
7:00pm-8:30pm.

Wil Wheaton’s Blog:
http://www.wilwheaton.net/

***Nathan Torkington (“Perl Cookbook”), Open Source Developers’
Conference, Melbourne, Australia–December 1-3
Nat gives a keynote presentation on open source trends at this grass roots
style event.
http://www.osdc.com.au/index.html

***Gordon Meyer (“Smart Home Hacks”), DigitalGuru, Sunnyvale, CA–
December 15
Gordon makes an appearance at the DigitalGuru Computer Bookshop starting
at 12:30 p.m. DigitalGuru will be offering a 40% discount on Gordon’s book
that day. (If you can’t wait til December 15, be sure to stop by DigitalGuru
between November 29 and December 10 to take advantage of a
special sale: 40% off ALL O’Reilly books, as well as books by our publishing
partners.) DigitalGuru is located at 546-3 Lawrence Expressway in
Sunnyvale, CA.
http://www.digitalguru.com/index.asp?cookie%5Ftest=1

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Conference News
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***Registration is Open for 2005 O’Reilly Emerging Technology Conference,
San Diego, CA–March 14-17, 2005
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 Bird” price.

To register for the conference, go to:
http://conferences.oreillynet.com/cs/et2005/create/ord_et05

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News From O’Reilly & Beyond
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General News
———————
***O’Reilly author Wil Wheaton at Macworld
Actor, comedian, blogger, and self-described geek Wil Wheaton will deliver
a special feature presentation at Macworld San Francisco. Wheaton will
discuss his personal story, as well as the joys of web design, HTML, and
blogging on Thursday, January 13, 2005 at 9:30 a.m. This
ever-popular actor-turned-writer will also attend a book signing after
his presentation.

Wil Wheaton’s Blog entry:
http://www.wilwheaton.net/mt/archives/001739.php

Macworld press release:
http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20041109005168&newsLang=en

***Interesting Work for Interesting People
O’Reilly Media is looking for a web designer; an Office, .NET; and Windows
programming editor; a national account manager; product managers; a
systems analyst; and software engineers; among others. For a complete list
of open positions, visit:
http://jobs.oreilly.com/

***Hacks for Smart Homes
Implementing home automation may be easier and less expensive than you
ever imagined. By using your computer, your home can become much smarter.
Gordon Meyer, author of “Smart Home Hacks,” covers the basics of
automating your home with MisterHouse, an open source home automation
application for Linux, Windows, and Mac OS X. Move a step beyond automatic
lights to a home that actually responds to stimuli.
http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/onlamp/2004/11/11/smrthome_hks1.html

***”Spam Kings” Author Shares Insights, Spam-Prevention Tips
In this interview with TechSoup, Brian McWilliams talks about the most
effective way to fight spam, anti-spam legislation, why spammers spam, the
types of scam people most often fall for, and much more.
http://www.techsoup.org/howto/articlepage.cfm?ArticleId=566

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Open Source
———————
***Open Source Licenses Are Not All the Same
As open source and the Internet continue to grow in popularity, more and
more users and developers come into contact with open source code. Though
the various licenses increase user rights somehow, they all do it in
different ways and with different goals. Steve Fishman categorizes several
popular licenses and explains their implications.
http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/onlamp/2004/11/18/licenses.html

***make: The Evolution and Alternatives
After 13 years of the O’Reilly classic, “Managing Projects with make, 2nd
Edition,” coauthor Andy Oram looks back and summarizes the evolution of
make. With the recent release of “Managing Projects with GNU make, 3rd
Edition,” author Robert Mecklenburg offers an adapted excerpt comparing
Ant, IDEs, and make for managing the build process.
http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/onlamp/2004/11/18/gnumake_3e.html

***The Youngest “Learning Python” Fan
How old do you have to be to appreciate O’Reilly’s books? Not very. Tim
Pietzcker shows us how much his 17-month-old son likes “Learning Python,”
and other readers chime in with similar experiences (including Chicago
Perl Monger Andy Lester). The appeal of O’Reilly animals proves to be
cross-generational in our latest “Letters.”
http://www.oreilly.com/pub/a/oreilly/letters/2004/python_1104.html

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Mac
———————
***Write a Webserver in 100 Lines of Code or Less
REAL Software programmer and tester Jonathan Johnson shows you the power
and simplicity of developing with REALbasic by walking you through the
building of a working webserver. After this tutorial, you’ll not only have
a pratical knowledge or REALbasic, but you’ll have a cool little server
too.
http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2004/11/19/realbasic.html

***iPod Photo: Breakthrough Device or Work in Progress?
After spending three years as the most popular digital music player, the
iPod has evolved. No longer just music to your ears, the new color iPod
photo boasts plenty of eye candy with storage for as many as 25,000
photos. Is it really everything you ever wanted? Hadley Stern, author of
“iPod & iTunes Hacks,” takes an in-depth look with his review.
http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2004/11/16/ipod_photo.html

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Windows/.NET
———————
***Building Simple Lists Using Strings in VBA
Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), the language used for scripting
Microsoft Word, isn’t really known for its string-processing abilities.
But sometimes, string hacking is a quick and convenient way to solve a
problem, and the string functions VBA does provide are often up to the
task. In this article, Andrew Savikas, author of “Word Hacks,” shows you
how to use strings for simple lists.
http://www.windowsdevcenter.com/pub/a/windows/2004/11/16/wdhks_2.html

***Skins and Themes
In his previous column, Jesse Liberty showed you how to use web forms
security to create a personalized site. Here, he builds on that work to
introduce the concepts of skins and themes, which allow users to configure
the look and feel of your site.
http://www.ondotnet.com/pub/a/dotnet/2004/11/15/libertyonwhidbey.html

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Java
———————
***Extending Struts
With so many web application frameworks available, there’s little point
reinventing the wheel, especially when Struts offers remarkable
extensibility. Sunil Patil introduces the three basic means of extending
Struts to achieve custom web application behavior.
http://www.onjava.com/pub/a/onjava/2004/11/10/ExtendingStruts.html

***Take the ONJava.com Survey
We’re asking ONJava.com readers to participate in an online survey. You’ll
help shape our online editorial direction and influence which book titles
we pursue. And you’ll have a chance to win some of our most popular Java
books.
http://www.zoomerang.com/recipient/survey-intro.zgi?p=WEB223X7HZ42HJ

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Digital Media
———————
***Creating iPod Tattoos
One of the benefits of the Apple-HP iPod partnership is HP’s clever idea
to let iPod owners customize their devices using “tattoos.” You can
download predesigned ones from the HP site, or create your own with an
inkjet printer. Tony Williams shows you how.
http://digitalmedia.oreilly.com/2004/11/17/ipod_tattoos.html

***Could Ringtones Be More Annoying?!
People absolutely love annoying ringtones, and the annoying effect they
have on everybody else around them. This is really good news for those in
the audio business.
http://digitalmedia.oreilly.com/2004/11/10/drescher_bbq04_ringtone.html

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From Your Peers
================================================
***First Annual New York Technical Community Holiday Party,
NY, NY–December 15
Network with hundreds of New York’s top IT professionals in a private SoHo
lounge space, where you’ll have a chance to connect with the industry’s
top vendors and experts. Join authors and fellow IT pros for
presentations, giveaways, open bar, hors d’oeuvres, and a unique
networking opportunity in Manhattan.
Admission is free, RSVP required.
http://nyphp.org/nytchp.php

***London Perl Workshop, London, UK–December 11
This event is intended to allow Perl beginners to learn from long-standing
members of the community, while also giving the experts a chance to make
easy tasks seem trivial, and hard tasks seem easy.
Imperial College
http://london.pm.org/lpw/

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

Until next time–

Marsee