================================================================
O'Reilly UG Program News--Just for User Group Leaders
November 3, 2004
================================================================
-Putting Together Your Holiday Newsletter?
-SitePoint Booklet Samplers for your Members
-Looking for a Speaker on Java and/or XML?
----------------------------------------------------------------
Book Info
----------------------------------------------------------------
***Review books are available 
Copies of our books are available for your members to review--
send me an email and please include the book's ISBN number on 
your request. Let me know if you need your book by a certain date. 
Allow at least four weeks for shipping. 


***Please send copies of your book reviews
Email me a copy of your newsletters or book reviews.
For tips and suggestions on writing book reviews, go to:
http://ug.oreilly.com/bookreviews.html


***Discount information
Don't forget to remind your members about our 20% discount on O'Reilly, 
No Starch, Paraglyph, Pragmatic Bookshelf, SitePoint, and Syngress 
books and O'Reilly conferences. 
Just use code DSUG.


***Group purchases with better discounts are available
Please let me know if you are interested and I can put you in 
touch with our sales department.

----------------------------------------------------------------
General News
----------------------------------------------------------------
***Putting Together your Holiday Newsletter? 
Don't forget to include books on you list of gift suggestions.
Please borrow from our gift guide press announcement here:
http://press.oreilly.com/pub/pr/1248

Or I can put together a custom list for you. Just let me know what your
deadline is.


***SitePoint Booklet Samplers for your members
Let me know how many you need and I can send some copies of this 
150-page
booklet that features four chapters from four recent books including 
"The
Flash Anthology," "The PHP Anthology," "Build Your Own ASP.NET Website
Using C# & VB.NET" and "The Web Design Business Kit." (Available while
supplies last.)

For more information on SitePoint, go to:
http://sitepoint.oreilly.com/


***Looking for a Speaker on Java and/or XML?
Elliotte Rusty Harold, author of many books on Java and/or XML, is
available to speak to user groups within the New York metro area, or a
little further out if they can afford bus/plane/train/cab fare. Right 
now
he's particularly interested in talking about Effective XML, XOM, 
XQuery,
and RELAX NG. Or, for the more Java-focused user group, he's thinking a
lot lately both about what will be in Mustang, Dolphin, and beyond, and
what should be (which aren't always the same thing). For contact
information, go to the speaker page on the user group wiki:
http://wiki.oreillynet.com/usergroups/index.cgi?SpeakersLookingforUGs


================================================================
O'Reilly News for User Group Members
November 3, 2004
================================================================
----------------------------------------------------------------
Book News
----------------------------------------------------------------
-Spam Kings
-The Cult of Mac
-Gaming Hacks
-Perl Core Language Little Black Book, 2nd Edition
-Wireless Hacking: Projects for Wi-Fi Enthusiasts
-DVD Studio Pro 3: In the Studio
-Game Console Hacking
-Steal This File Sharing Book
-How to Cheat at Managing Windows Small Business Server 2003
-Write Great Code
-Build Your Own ASP.NET Website Using C# & VB.NET
-Nessus Network Auditing
-Cisco Routers for the Desperate
-Programming Ruby
----------------------------------------------------------------
Upcoming Events
----------------------------------------------------------------
-International PHP Conference, Frankfurt-Morfelden, Germany--
  November 9-10
-Niel M. Bornstein (".NET and XML"), XML 2004 Conference and 
Exposition, 
  Washington, DC--November 15-19
-Peter Morville ("Information Architecture for the World Wide Web"), 
  Information Architecture & Findability, Washington, DC--November 18
-Bonnie Biafore ("Online Investing Hacks"), NAIC Puget Sound 
  Investor Fair, Bellevue, WA--November 19
----------------------------------------------------------------
Conference News
----------------------------------------------------------------
-Call for Participation: The MySQL Users Conference--
  Proposals are due by November 15
----------------------------------------------------------------
News
----------------------------------------------------------------
-Gauging the Geek Factor--A Look at Technology's Impact
-Russian Denies Authoring "SoBig" Worm
-Analyzing Baseball Stats with R
-Ruby on Rails Project
-Introducing PHP 5's Standard Library
-A Firm Foundation for the Linux Desktop
-Copeland Operating System Rocks Mac OS X Con
-Hacking iPod and iTunes
-Free Exhibit Hall Pass for Macworld, San Francisco, CA--
  January 11-14 2005
-Stop Mac Envy Forever
-Introducing SQL Server Reporting Services
-How to Use JMS with PHP
-The Singleton as a Network Management Pattern
-Interview: Carmen Rizzo--Synthesizing the World
================================================
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

----------------------------------------------------------------
New Releases
----------------------------------------------------------------
***Spam Kings
Publisher: O'Reilly
ISBN: 0596007329
The mounting onslaught of email pitches has some techno-pundits 
declaring
that spam is on the verge of destroying the Internet. In this book, 
author
and veteran investigative journalist Brian McWilliams delivers a
compelling account of the cat-and-mouse game played by spam 
entrepreneurs
(including the notorious Davis Wolfgang Hawke, "Dr. Fatburn," and Scott
Richter) in search of easy fortunes and the cyber-vigilantes who are
trying to stop them. 
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/spamkings/

Chapter 1, "Birth of a Spam King," is available online:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/spamkings/chapter/index.html


***The Cult of Mac
Publisher: No Starch
ISBN: 1886411832
"The Cult of Mac" is an in-depth look at Mac users and their unique,
creative, and often humorous culture. Like fans of a football team or a
rock group, Macintosh fans have their own customs, with clearly defined
obsessions, rites, and passages. From people who get Mac tattoos and
haircuts, to those who furnish their apartments out of empty Mac boxes,
this book exposes all sides of Mac fanaticism, from the innocuous to 
the
insane.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/1886411832/


***Gaming Hacks
Publisher: O'Reilly
ISBN: 0596007140
It doesn't take long for an avid or just wickedly clever gamer to chaff 
at
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


***Perl Core Language Little Black Book, 2nd Edition
Publisher: Paraglyph
ISBN: 1932111921
"Perl Core Language Little Black Book, Second Edition," provides
insightful tips and techniques for programming with Perl. Immediate
solutions are provided with field-tested examples to help programmers 
and
web developers quickly solve problems and exploit the power and
flexibility of Perl. This updated edition covers the current version of
Perl (5.8) as well as highlighting critical features of the upcoming 
6.0
version. 
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/1932111921/


***Wireless Hacking: Projects for Wi-Fi Enthusiasts
Publisher: Syngress
ISBN: 193183637X
As the cost of wireless technology drops, the number of wi-fi users
continues to grow. Millions of people have discovered the joy and 
delight
of "cutting the cord." Many of those people are looking for ways to 
take
the next step and try out some of the cutting edge techniques for 
building
and deploying "homebrew" wi-fi networks, both large and small. This 
book
shows wi-fi enthusiasts and consumers of wi-fi LANs who want to modify
their wi-fi hardware how to build and deploy homebrew wi-fi networks, 
both
large and small.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/193183637X/


***DVD Studio Pro 3: In the Studio
Publisher: O'Reilly
ISBN: 0596005881
This indispensable book gives you the tools and know-how to master DVD
Studio Pro 3. Oversized and in full color, it's a highly visual book 
that's 
ideal for Macintosh ProApps developers--those who use Final Cut Pro 4 
and Shake 3--as well as for prosumer and professional filmmakers who
wish to transfer their projects to DVDs. The book goes well beyond the
program's features list to demystify the entire process of DVD design 
and
authoring. 
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/dvdstudio3/

Chapter 5, "An International DVD Project," is available online:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/dvdstudio3/chapter/index.html


***Game Console Hacking
Publisher: Syngress
ISBN: 1931836310
"Game Console Hacking" is the first book on the market to show video 
game
enthusiasts (self-described hardware geeks) how to disassemble,
reconfigure, customize and re-purpose their Atari, Nintendo, 
Playstation,
and Xbox systems. 
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/1931836310/


***Steal This File Sharing Book 
Publisher: No Starch
ISBN: 159327050X
"Steal This File Sharing Book" peels back the mystery surrounding file
sharing networks such as Kazaa, Morpheus, and Usenet, and shows you how
they work and how to use them wisely. The book goes on to reveal the
dangers (viruses, spyware, lawsuits) of using file sharing networks and
tells you how to avoid those threats. It also includes coverage of the
ongoing battle between software, video, and music file sharers and the
industries that are trying to stop them.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/159327050X/


***How to Cheat at Managing Windows Small Business Server 2003
Publisher: Syngress
ISBN: 1932266801
If running a Windows Small Business Server 2003 network is just one of
your many job responsibilities, this book is for you. It applies the 
tried
and true "80/20" rule to this incredibly complex operating system,
providing you with exactly the information you need to install, 
configure,
and troubleshoot the W2K3 features most likely to ruin your day (such 
as
setting user permissions, restoring lost data, and sharing hardware)
without having to wade through material you don't need.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/1932266801/


***Write Great Code
Publisher: No Starch
ISBN: 1593270038
You'll hear that the secret to efficient, well written software is
learning assembly language programming. However, what you really need 
to
learn is machine organization, which will help you make wise choices 
with
respect to programming statements and data types when writing software, 
no
matter which language you use. This book teaches the important concepts 
of
machine organization in a language-independent fashion, without the 
extra
overhead of having to learn assembly language.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/1593270038/


***Build Your Own ASP.NET Website Using C# & VB.NET
Publisher: SitePoint
ISBN: 0957921861
Want to write dynamic, database-driven ASP.NET websites? Look no 
further
than this beginner's book which provides an excellent introduction to
databases,programming concepts, and more. Learn through practical 
examples
by creating and customizing an Intranet website, ecommerce store, 
shopping
cart with PayPal check out, and more. All you need to get started is a
Windows PC. 
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/0957921861/


***Nessus Network Auditing
Publisher: Syngress
ISBN: 1931836086
Nessus is the premier Open Source vulnerability assessment tool, and 
was
recently voted the "most popular" open source security tool of any 
kind.
This is the first book available on Nessus and it is written by the
world's premier Nessus developers led by the creator of Nessus, Renaud
Deraison.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/1931836086/


***Cisco Routers for the Desperate
Publisher: No Starch
ISBN: 1593270496
"Cisco Routers for the Desperate" is a brief, meaty introduction to 
Cisco
routers that will make a competent systems administrator comfortable 
with
the Cisco environment, teach them how to troubleshoot problems, and 
take
them through the basic tasks of router maintenance and integration into 
an
existing network. This compact book is designed to be read once, and 
then
left on top of the router until something breaks.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/1593270496/


***Programming Ruby
Publisher: Pragmatic Bookshelf
ISBN: 0974514055
The famous Pickaxe book (so named for the tool on the cover) is the
definitive reference to the highly-regarded Ruby programming language.
Author Dave Thomas has expanded the new Second Edition with over 200 
pages
of new material and major enhancements from the original, covering all 
the
new and improved language features of Ruby 1.8 and standard library
modules.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/0974514055

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

***International PHP Conference, Frankfurt-Morfelden, Germany--
  November 9-10
We'll have our own stand and editor in attendance at this conference 
that
runs in tandem with MySQL ComCon.
http://www.php-conference.de/2004/index_en.php


***Niel M. Bornstein (".NET and XML"), XML 2004 Conference and 
Exposition,
  Washington, DC--November 15-19
Niel presents a tutorial based on his book at this annual event.
http://www.xmlconference.org/xmlusa/


***Peter Morville ("Information Architecture for the World Wide Web"), 
  Information Architecture & Findability, Washington, DC--November 18
Peter leads a new full-day seminar on information architecture from top 
to
bottom, explaining how search and navigation systems can be designed to
support and shape user behavior.
http://semanticstudios.com/presentations/iaf/


***Bonnie Biafore ("Online Investing Hacks"), NAIC Puget Sound 
  Investor Fair,  Bellevue, WA--November 19
Bonnie speaks at this National Association of Investors Corporation
event.
http://www.better-investing.org/chapter/puget/

================================================
Conference News
================================================
***Call for Participation: The MySQL Users Conference--
  Proposals are due by November 15
From embedded solutions to web-commerce and critical business
applications, MySQL is everywhere--with more than five million active
installations worldwide. To introduce new users to MySQL and help
developers and IT professionals keep pace with the latest advancements,
MySQL AB has teamed up with O'Reilly Media, Inc. to co-present the 
third
annual MySQL Users Conference, scheduled for April 18-21, 2005, in 
Santa
Clara, CA.

For complete conference details visit:
http://www.mysqluc.com

Visit the submissions page for all the details on tracks and proposal
guidelines--this year's theme is "MySQL Everywhere." Proposals are due 
no
later than November 15, 2004.
http://conferences.oreillynet.com/cs/mysqluc2005/create/e_sess

================================================
News From O'Reilly & Beyond
================================================
---------------------
General News
---------------------
***Gauging the Geek Factor--A Look at Technology's Impact
Hundreds of new technologies are changing the way we work, play...and 
even
how we think. Are they just making it easier for us to do what we 
already
do? Or are they having a more fundamental impact? Our books explore how
today’s technology is transforming society--including the thoughtful
musings and tongue-in-cheek outlook of the geeks responsible.
For a complete list of these books, check out:
http://techsociety.oreilly.com/


***Russian Denies Authoring "SoBig" Worm 
SoBig, the computer worm that ran rampant on the Internet in 2003, is 
the
subject of a new, anonymously authored report that definitively claims
Send-Safe as its creator. Ruslan Ibragimov, owner of the accused,
Russian-based bulk email company, flatly denies the report's claim in 
an
online interview with author Brian McWilliams.
http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/network/2004/11/02/sobig.html


***Analyzing Baseball Stats with R 
An introduction to one way of examining the abundance of raw data
available on the Web: using R to analyze baseball stats.
http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/network/2004/10/27/baseball.html

---------------------
Open Source
---------------------
***Ruby on Rails Project
Rails is a new open source web application framework that provides
everything needed to build real-world applications, using fewer lines 
of
code than other development environments. It's a full-stack framework, 
so
all layers are built to work seamlessly together and you can use a 
single
language from top to bottom. Everything from templates to control flow 
to
business logic is written in Ruby.
http://www.rubyonrails.org/show/HomePage


***Introducing PHP 5's Standard Library
Program reusable code easily with the Standard PHP Library extension. 
As Harry Fuecks explains, this promising functionality snuck into PHP 5
without 
fanfare, but bodes extremely well for the future of standardised PHP
development.
http://www.sitepoint.com/article/php5-standard-library


***A Firm Foundation for the Linux Desktop 
Nearly every advance of Linux, open source, and free software on the
desktop owes a debt to the X Window System. Too often, this debt goes
unacknowledged. With the birth of X.org earlier this year, a 
foundational
but once-stagnant project prepares to improve itself and its code to 
help
free desktops everywhere. Andy Oram reports.
http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/q/articles

---------------------
Mac
---------------------
***The Copeland Operating System Rocks Mac OS X Con 
Although it's been twenty years since the band broke up, Stewart 
Copeland
is still best known as the former drummer of the Police. David Battino,
chairman of the Audio Track of the O'Reilly Mac OS X Conference audio
track, hosted a keynote conversation with Copeland about the drummer's
career as a film composer. 
http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/osx2004/copeland.html

Photos of Stewart at the conference:
http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/osx2004/wednesday_photos.html

And here's an interview with Stewart on Inside Mac Radio:
http://www.osxfaq.com/radio/10-2004/10-30.html


***Hacking iPod and iTunes
Your favorite toy just got better. Push the envelope of your iPod's
capabilities: turn it into a universal remote, permanently install it 
in
your car, run Linux on it, make smart playlists, and tame iTunes with
AppleScript. These hacks are excerpted from O'Reilly's "iPod and iTunes
Hacks."
http://digitalmedia.oreilly.com/2004/10/28/ipoditunes_hcks.html


***Free Exhibit Hall Pass for Macworld, San Francisco, CA--
  January 11-14 2005
Make sure you register online with priority code NO220 before 
December 10.
http://www.macworldexpo.com

---------------------
Windows/.NET
---------------------
***Tips for Improving Graphics Performance 
Stephen Bigelow, author of "PC Hardware Annoyances," breaks it down to 
the
basics with seven tips to improve your computer's graphics performance.
Oftentimes, the solution to what seems to be a hefty problem may be as
simple as reading the fine print on a box and adjusting your settings
accordingly. 
http://www.windowsdevcenter.com/pub/a/windows/2004/11/02/pcannoy_1.html


***Stop Mac Envy Forever 
Do you suffer from Mac envy? You're not alone. Apple is famous for its
interface design. But suffer no more--Thomas Kunneth shows you how to 
make
your PC work like Mac OS X.
http://www.windowsdevcenter.com/pub/a/windows/2004/10/26/MacEnvy.html


***Introducing SQL Server Reporting Services
Microsoft has finally added reporting capabilities to SQL Server 2000.
Wei-Meng Lee walks you through the basics of creating a simple report
using the SQL Server 2000 Reporting Services.
http://www.ondotnet.com/pub/a/dotnet/2004/11/01/reportingsvcs.html
---------------------
Java
---------------------
***How to Use JMS with PHP 
Java Messaging Service (JMS) is a great enterprise messaging 
architecture,
but what if you have have a web application written in a non-Java 
language
that wants to participate in JMS? Amir Shevat shows how PHP can be made 
to
work with JMS.
http://www.onjava.com/pub/a/onjava/2004/10/27/php-jms.html


***The Singleton as a Network Management Pattern 
Patterns aren't for the local memory space any more. As Stephen B. 
Morris
points out, patterns are also useful for network management problems. 
In
this installment, he shows how the Singleton pattern can be used to 
manage
access to functionality in a networked system.
http://www.onjava.com/pub/a/onjava/2004/10/27/NMSingleton.html

---------------------
Digital Media
---------------------
***Interview: Carmen Rizzo--Synthesizing the World
If Carmen Rizzo were in a circus, he’d be its best juggler. It’s
amazing how this Hollywood-based producer, composer, and remixer keeps
artists, songs, technologies, concerts, films, studios, continents, and
even trustees aloft. Appropriately, one of his remixes appears this 
year
on Cirque du Soleil’s 20th Anniversary CD.
http://digitalmedia.oreilly.com/2004/10/26/rizzo_db.html


================================================
O'Reilly User Group Wiki
================================================
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