O'Reilly User Group Program
Newsletter
May 6, 2003


Please share this information with your members...


Highlights This Week:
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Book News
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-Mac OS X Hints
-ADO.NET in a Nutshell
-Mac OS X for Java Geeks
-Java Data Objects
-Building Embedded Linux Systems
-Active Directory, 2nd Edition
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Upcoming Events
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-Author Juval Lowy ("Programming .NET Components"), PGHDOTNET
Pittsburgh, PA--May 21
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Conferences
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-Be a part of OSCON's first Hackathon July 6 & 7
-O'Reilly Mac OS X Conference Call for Participation--
Deadline is May 14
-Put Up an O'Reilly Open Source Convention Banner, 
Get a Free Book
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Safari 
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-"Go On Safari" winner--S. Patrick Eaton, Tokyo PC Users Group
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News
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-Head First: Just Bring Your Brain 
-Electronic Archaeology
-OSCON Keynotes
-Open Source and Open Standards
-Creating Richer Hyperlinks with JSP Custom Tags
-Feed Your Head at ETech 2003
-The Secrets of Strong Naming
-Apple Brings Good Karma to Online Music
-Freeware Gems for Mac OS X 
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News From Your Peers
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-Twin Cities PHP Users Group Meeting, St. Paul, MN--May 14
-Syracuse Area Java Users Group Meeting, Dewitt, NY--May 21

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Book News
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Review books are available--email me for a copy.

***Please include the book order number on your requests.

Let me know if you need your books by a certain date.
Allow at least four weeks for shipping. 
Send or email me copies of your newsletters and book reviews.

Don't forget, your members get 20% off any O'Reilly book they purchase
directly from O'Reilly. Just use code DSUG when ordering.
http://www.oreilly.com/

***Group purchases with better discounts are available***
Please let me know if you are interested.

Press releases are available on our press page:
http://press.oreilly.com/

***Mac OS X Hints (Yeah! Finally...)
Order Number: 4516
Mac OS X holds many delicious secrets--you just have to know where to
find them. This handy reference shows intermediate to advanced
aficionados of Mac OS X how to adjust the desktop, tweak applications,
reconfigure the system, and even fine-tune the software in Mac OS X's
Unix-based core. It also shows how to handle numerous, complex system
administration tasks. Presented in an easy-to-follow, cross-referenced
format, "Mac OS X Hints" will help you get the most out of Mac OS X
10.2.  http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/macxhints/


***ADO.NET in a Nutshell
Order Number: 3617
"ADO.NET in a Nutshell" is the most complete and concise source of
ADO.NET information available. Besides being a valuable reference, this
book covers a variety of issues that programmers face when developing
web applications or web services that rely on database access. Using
C#, the book presents real-world, practical examples that will help you
put ADO.NET to work immediately. Included on CD-ROM is a Visual Studio
.NET add-in that integrates the entire reference directly into your
help files.  
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/adonetian/

Chapter 12,"DataViews and Data Binding," is available online:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/adonetian/chapter/index.html


***Mac OS X for Java Geeks
Order Number: 4001
"Mac OS X for Java Geeks," written specifically for Java developers,
gives a complete, detailed look at Mac OS X. Whether you're a Java
newbie, working your way through Java Swing and classpath issues, or a
Java guru, comfortable with digital media, reflection, and J2EE, this
book will teach you how to get around on Mac OS X. You'll also get the
latest information on how to build applications that run seamlessly,
and identically, on Windows, Linux, Unix, and the Mac.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/macxjvgks/

Chapter 10, "QuickTime for Java," is available online:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/macxjvgks/chapter/index.html


***Java Data Objects
Order Number: 2769
"Java Data Objects" is the definitive work on the JDO API. It gives you
a thorough introduction to JDO and shows you how to: make classes
persistent and how JDO maps persistent classes to the database;
configure JDO at runtime; perform transactions; and make queries. More
advanced chapters cover optional features such as nontransactional
access and optimistic transactions. The book concludes by discussing
the use of JDO in web applications and J2EE environments.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/jvadtaobj/

Chapter 1, "An Initial Tour," is available online:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/jvadtaobj/chapter/index.html


***Building Embedded Linux Systems
Order Number: 222X
"Building Embedded Linux Systems" shows you how to design and build
your own embedded systems using Linux as the kernel, and freely
available open source tools as the framework. The book gradually
introduces readers to the intricacies of embedded Linux with detailed
information and examples that describe how Linux is actually put on an
embedded device. You'll learn the strengths and weaknesses of Linux as
an embedded OS, as well as what licensing issues are involved.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/belinuxsys/

Chapter 5, "Kernel Considerations," is available online:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/belinuxsys/chapter/index.html


***Active Directory, 2nd Edition 
Order Number: 4664
"Active Directory, 2nd Edition" gives a clear, detailed look at Active
Directory for both Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003. You'll become
familiar with the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP),
multi-master replication, Domain Name System (DNS), Group Policy, and
the Active Directory Schema, among many other topics. This book will
guide you through the maze of concepts, design issues, and scripting
options, enabling you to get the most out of your deployment.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/actdir2/

Chapter 14, "Upgrading to Windows Server 2003," is is available
online:  
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/actdir2/chapter/index.html

===============================================
Upcoming Events
===============================================
***Author Juval Lowy ("Programming .NET Components"), PGHDOTNET 
Pittsburgh, PA--May 21
Juval will be presenting ".NET Remoting" to the Pittsburgh .NET User
Group.

For more info and to RSVP:
http://www.pghdotnet.org/

May 21st from 6-8pm
Pittsburgh Technology Council
2000 Technology Drive
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
http://www.pghtech.org/contact/directions.html

For more events, please see:
http://events.oreilly.com/

================================================
Conference News
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***Be a part of OSCON's first Hackathon July 6 & 7
Pick an open source project, gather a group of hackers, and descend on
the Hackathon. We'll provide the room, bandwidth, tables, chairs, and
white boards--you provide the code. Space is limited. If you are
interested in participating, send email to oscon03hackathon@oreilly.com
by June 1, 2003.

O'Reilly Open Source Convention
Portland Marriott Downtown,
Portland, OR
July 7-11, 2003
http://conferences.oreilly.com/oscon/


Early Bird Discount--
User Group members who register before May 23, 2003 get a double
discount. Use code DSUG when you register, and you'll get 20% off the
"Early Bird" price.

To register, go to:
http://conferences.oreillynet.com/cs/os2003/create/ord_os03


***O'Reilly Mac OS X Conference Call for Participation--Deadline is May 
14
System administrators, developers, strategists, technical staff, and
power users are invited to submit proposals to lead tutorial and
conference sessions at the second annual O'Reilly Mac OS X Conference.
Suggested topics include: Scripting Genius, Amazing Applications,
Ingenious Hacks, and SysAdmin Mac Style, to name a few.
http://conferences.oreilly.com/macosxcon/

The submission deadline for proposals is May 14, 2003:
http://conferences.oreillynet.com/cs/macosx2003/create/e_sess


***Put Up an O'Reilly Open Source Convention Banner, Get A Free Book
Ready for the next conference banner promotion? Here it is:  We are
looking for user groups to display our conference banners on their web
sites. If you send me the link to your user group site with our
O'Reilly Open Source Convention banner, I will send you the O'Reilly
book of your choice.

OSCON Conference Banners:
http://ug.oreilly.com/banners/oscon2003/

================================================
Safari News
================================================
***"Go On Safari" Weekly Winner--S. Patrick Eaton, Tokyo PC Users Group
"Shipping books from overseas has always been time-consuming and
costly. Buying books locally is costly, too, and often means putting up
with limited selections, especially in the area of technical
books--which are the kind I crave most....Fortunately, [this isn't] a
problem any more. I've just signed up for my own Safari Bookshelf."

Your group can also participate in this introductory program just for
user group members. To "Go on Safari," any of your members who sign up
for our Safari 14-day free trial send comments on their experiences, or
tips and tricks for how they used Safari  (it only needs to be 2
sentences long, but it may be longer) to safari_talk@oreilly.com.

Every week someone will be chosen from the tips or comments submitted
to receive fun stuff from O'Reilly (T-shirts, book bags, or other
surprises). If a member of your user group is selected, your group
receives free gifts, too. Whatever the individual member receives, your
UG will get one, too, to give away at your next meeting, or use however
you see fit. Recipients--and their comments--will be announced in the
User Group Newsletter.

**Please use this special UG URL to sign up for the 14-day trial**
http://www.oreilly.com/safari/ug

For more information on Safari:
http://safari.oreilly.com/

================================================
News From O'Reilly & Beyond
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General News
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***Head First: Just Bring Your Brain
Wacky themes, far-out images, and strange examples--O'Reilly's new Head
First book series helps you learn with stories, games, and pictures.
Learning a new technology doesn't have to be boring; see for yourself
with O'Reilly's upcoming "Head First Java."
http://headfirst.oreilly.com/

Head First Java (Out this month)
Order Number: 4656
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/hfjava/


***Electronic Archaeology
It takes time to make a good mess. Programs start out simple, but then
the code evolves (or devolves) over the years. Different people work on
it, and it appears many of them knew very little about programming. The
result for professional programmers is having to deal with badly
designed, badly implemented, uncommented, incomprehensible blobs. The
art of digging through ancient, muddled code is called "electronic
archaeology," and this article, by Steve Oualline, author of "Practical
C++ Programming, 2nd Edition," discusses some of the tools you can use
to make your code "digs" easier.
http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/network/2003/04/29/steveoaulline.html

Practical C++ Programming, 2nd Edition
Order Number: 4192
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/cplus2/


***Feed Your Head at ETech 2003
A week in Santa Clara for the O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference
provided attendees with lots to chew on. Daniel Steinberg gives an
inside look at the people and the topics that helped make this such a
satisfying event.
http://www.openp2p.com/pub/a/p2p/2003/05/01/etech.html

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Open Source
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***OSCON Keynotes
Nathan Torkington: "I've had people asking me what's up with OSCON this
year--is anything interesting happening or can they skip it and watch
'Alias' reruns instead. I can't make your decision for you (the
relative attractiveness of the Alias lady and Larry Wall is something
I'll leave to you to weigh) but I can definitely talk a little about
what I'm jazzed about." http://www.onlamp.com/pub/wlg/3151

***Open Source and Open Standards
Open source means open code. It usually also means open standards. Are
they really so tightly intertwined? Which is more important to openness
in technology? Peter Saint-Andr explores these thoughts.
http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/onlamp/2003/04/29/openstandardsopensource.html

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Java
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***Creating Richer Hyperlinks with JSP Custom Tags
Gone are the days where one destination per link was enough. With
mirroring, localization, and internationalization, your readers might
want the choice of several different resources for any given link.
Until XLink and XPointer are well-supported in browsers and authoring
tools, most alternatives are clumsy. Amit Goel demonstrates a better
approach by creating a custom JSP tag to control a dynamic menu of
destination links.
http://www.onjava.com/pub/a/onjava/2003/04/30/jsp_hyperlinks.html

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.NET
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***The Secrets of Strong Naming
If you've been working with .NET for any length of time, you've
probably run across the concept of a strong name. No, that doesn't mean
that your assemblies should have names like MyCompany.Gorilla.Biceps.
The strength of a strong name lies in the protection that it offers
your assemblies. The .NET Framework uses strong names to identify
assemblies and to protect them from tampering. In this article, Mike
Gunderloy shows you how strong names are constructed and demonstrates
the mechanics of working with strong names in .NET.
http://www.ondotnet.com/pub/a/dotnet/2003/04/28/strongnaming.html

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Mac
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***Apple Brings Good Karma to Online Music
At a much anticipated media event in San Francisco, Steve Jobs
announced Apple's new online music service, an updated version of
iTunes and third-generation iPods. Here are the details complete with
audio clips and photos from the presentation.
http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/q/all_mac_articles


***Freeware Gems for Mac OS X
Here's a collection of lesser-known freeware gems available for Mac OS
X. We're talking about neat little apps that you might not have heard
of, but that can do the job just as well as better-known (and much more
expensive) varieties without you having to pay a penny for them.
http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2003/04/25/freeware.html

================================================
News From Your Peers
================================================
***Twin Cities PHP Users Group Meeting, St. Paul, MN--May 14
This meeting will feature Steve Lime, creator of Mapserver giving an
introduction to using scripting languages like PHP to create dynamic
web based spatial reports (otherwise known as maps)

May 14, 7:00pm
Offices of Minnesota Public Radio
45 East Seventh Street
St. Paul, MN 55101

For more information and directions:
http://tcphp.org


***Syracuse Area Java Users Group Meeting, Dewitt, NY--May 21
This meeting will feature "Ant: Building Mountains or Mole Hills." They
will review the use of Ant and provide examples of enterprise level
builds (JSP, Servlet, EJB, etc) usually not found in the current
literature.

May 21, 6:00pm
Partners In Health Systems
5789 Widewaters Parkway--1st Floor
Dewitt, NY 13214

Contact Bob Krause at bkrause@phs-us.com if you plan on attending or
need more information.


Until next time--

Marsee