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O'Reilly UG Program News--Just for User Group Leaders
January 3, 2005
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================================================================
O'Reilly News for User Group Members
January 3, 2005
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Book News
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-Windows XP Pro: The Missing Manual, 2nd Edition
-Photo Retouching with Photoshop: A Designer's Notebook
-Linux Cookbook
-Revolution in The Valley
-Silence on the Wire
-Jakarta Commons Cookbook
-Dr. Tom Shinder's Configuring ISA Server 2004
-Oracle SQL*Plus: The Definitive Guide, 2nd Edition
-Windows XP Annoyances for Geeks, 2nd Edition
-Home Theater Hacks
-Hacking a Terror Network
-Word Hacks
-High Performance Linux Clusters
----------------------------------------------------------------
Upcoming Events
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-O'Reilly Happenings at Macworld SF--January 10-14
-Free Exhibit Hall Pass for Macworld
----------------------------------------------------------------
Conference News
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-Registration is Open for 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
----------------------------------------------------------------
News
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-"Make" Subscriptions Now Available
-Renewable Energy--The Next Opportunity for Silicon Valley
-Freedom, Innovation, and Convenience: The RMS Interview
-Ten Tips for Building Your First High-Performance Cluster
-Clever Tricks with MythTV
-Tim O'Reilly, Derrick Story, and David Pogue make the 2004 MDJ 
  Power 25 List
-Build an eDoc Reader for your iPod
-Book Worms into Minds of PC Cultists
-Windows Explorer Hacks
-Inside Secrets of MSN Desktop Search
-Towards Bug-Free Code
-ONJava 2004 in Review: Popular Articles
-Exporting QuickTime Movies with Simple Video Out X
================================================
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:
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Don't forget, you can receive 20% off any O'Reilly, No Starch, 
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----------------------------------------------------------------
New Releases
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***Windows XP Pro: The Missing Manual, 2nd Edition
Publisher: O'Reilly 
ISBN: 0596008988
Completely refreshed and updated for Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2), 
this
bestseller is for the novice or budding power user who wants to master
Microsoft's latest operating system and get down to work. The book 
reveals
which features work well and which don't, such as the Remote Desktop
software that enables people to connect to the office from home, the
encryption file system that protects sensitive information, and the
Windows Messenger that enables real-time text, voice, and video
communication.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/winxppro2/


***Photo Retouching with Photoshop: A Designer's Notebook
Publisher: O'Reilly 
ISBN: 0596008600
This lavish, colorful book showcases innovative photo-retouching 
solutions
by well known French artists, and will be inspiring and instructive for
anyone involved in creating digital images or animations. You'll see 
what
the pros are able to do to their photographs with Photoshop; you'll be
guided, step-by-step, through the editing process of each project--from
original shot to polished print; and you'll gain insight into how each
visionary artist imagined, conceptualized, and created the final 
exquisite
image.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/photoretouchadn/


***Linux Cookbook
Publisher: O'Reilly
ISBN: 0596006403
Linux information can be found scattered in manpages, texinfo files, 
and
source code comments, but the best source is the experts who have built 
up
a working knowledge of managing Linux systems. This book's tested
techniques distill years of hard-won experience into practical
cut-and-paste solutions to everyday Linux dilemmas. Use just one recipe
from this collection of real-world solutions, and the hours of tedious
trial-and-error saved will more than pay for the cost of the book.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/linuxckbk/

Chapter 14, "Printing with CUPS," is available online:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/linuxckbk/chapter/index.html


***Revolution in The Valley
Publisher: O'Reilly
ISBN: 0596007191
"Revolution in the Valley" traces the development of the Macintosh
computer from its inception as an underground skunkworks project in 
1979
to its triumphant introduction in 1984 and beyond. In this vivid
first-hand account, author and key Macintosh developer Andy Hertzfeld
reveals exactly what it was like to be a key player in one of the most
important technical achievements in modern history. Lavish 
illustrations
and period photos (many never before published) bring to life the 
talented
and often eccentric characters who participated in the birth of the
personal computer revolution.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/revolution/


***Silence on the Wire 
Publisher: No Starch Press
ISBN: 1593270461
Author Michal Zalewski has long been known and respected in the hacking
and security communities for his intelligence, curiosity, and 
creativity,
and this book is truly unlike anything else out there. "In Silence on 
the
Wire," Zalewski shares his expertise and experience to explain how
computers and networks work, how information is processed and 
delivered,
and what security threats lurk in the shadows. No humdrum technical 
white
paper or how-to manual for protecting one's network, this book is a
fascinating narrative that explores a variety of unique, uncommon, and
often quite elegant security challenges that defy classification and
eschew the traditional attacker-victim model.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/1593270461/index.html


***Jakarta Commons Cookbook
Publisher: O'Reilly
ISBN: 059600706X
This collection of recipes provides expert tips for using the utilities 
of
the Java-based Jakarta Commons open source project. You don't have to 
be
an expert; the book's solution-based format contains code examples for 
a
wide variety of web, XML, network, testing, and application projects. 
If
you want to learn how to use Jakarta Commons utilities to create 
powerful
Java applications and tools, this cookbook is for you.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/jakartackbk/

Chapter 8, "Math," is available online:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/jakartackbk/chapter/index.html


***Dr. Tom Shinder's Configuring ISA Server 2004
Publisher: Syngress
ISBN: 1931836191
This book provides you with unparalleled information on installing,
configuring, and troubleshooting ISA Server 2004 by teaching you to 
Deploy
ISA Server 2004 in small businesses and large organizations; achieve
99.999% uptime for your ISA Server 2004 Internet access solution; roll 
out
an International VPN using built-in ISA Server 2004 VPN Wizards and
configuration interface; learn how to configure complex DMZ 
configurations
using ISA Server 2004's new network awareness features and built-in
multinetworking capabilities; and learn how to take advantage of ISA
Server 2004's new VPN capabilities.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/1931836191/index.html


****Oracle SQL*Plus: The Definitive Guide, 2nd Edition
Publisher: O'Reilly
ISBN: 0596007469
Updated for Oracle 10g, this bestselling book is the only in-depth 
guide
to SQL*Plus. It clearly describes how to perform, step-by-step, all of 
the
tasks that Oracle developers and DBAs want to perform (and maybe some 
you
didn't realize you could) with SQL*Plus. If you want to capitalize upon
the full power and flexibility of this popular Oracle tool, this book 
is
an indispensable resource. 
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/orsqlplus2/

Chapter 6, "Creating HTML Reports," is available online:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/orsqlplus2/chapter/index.html


***Windows XP Annoyances for Geeks, 2nd Edition
Publisher: O'Reilly
ISBN: 0596008767
"Windows XP Annoyances for Geeks, 2nd Edition" offers dozens of 
on-target
tips, workarounds, and warnings, allowing users to improve their 
overall
experience with the popular XP operating system. You'll learn how to 
use
the Registry Editor, customize the interface, and master Windows's
built-in networking capabilities. The book also includes detailed 
coverage
of the newly released Service Pack 2 (SP2), which provides protection
against viruses, hackers, and worms. Seize control of the Windows XP
operating system before it takes control of you.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/winxpannoy2/

Chapter 5, "Maximizing Performance," is available online:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/winxpannoy2/chapter/


***Home Theater Hacks
Publisher: O'Reilly
ISBN: 0596007043
"Home Theater Hacks" is a smart collection of insider tips and tricks,
covering everything you need to know about home theater installation. 
Say
goodbye to frustrating trial-and-error processes and expensive
appointments with installation experts. This book prevents both by
imparting down-and-dirty techniques not found anywhere else. From 
finding
the right audio and video components and dealing with speakers and 
wiring,
to mastering remote controls and getting a handle on TiVo, this book 
will
help you customize your own, personal home theater experience.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/htheaterhks/

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


***Hacking a Terror Network
Publisher: Syngress
December 2004
ISBN: 1928994989
Written by a certified Arabic linguist from the Defense Language 
Institute
with extensive background in decoding encrypted communications, this
cyber-thriller uses a fictional narrative to provide a fascinating and
realistic "insider's look" into technically sophisticated covert 
terrorist
communications over the Internet. The accompanying CD-ROM allows 
readers
to "hack along" with the story line, by viewing the same web sites
described in the book containing encrypted, covert communications. 
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/1928994989/index.html


***Word Hacks
Publisher: O'Reilly
ISBN: 0596004931
Become a power user with "Word Hacks." Insider tips, tools, tricks, and
hacks help you accomplish your pressing tasks, address your frequent
annoyances, and solve even your most complex problems. The book 
examines
Word's advanced (and often hidden) features, and delivers clever,
time-saving hacks on taming document bloat, customization, complex 
search
and replace, tables and comments, XML, and even using Google without
leaving Word. 
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/wordhks/

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


***High Performance Linux Clusters
Publisher: O'Reilly
ISBN: 0596005709
"High Performance Linux Clusters" covers everything you need to build 
and
deploy a high-performance Linux cluster. You'll learn about effective
planning, hardware choices, bulk installation of Linux on multiple
systems, and other basic considerations. This guide also addresses the
major free software projects and how to choose those that are most 
helpful
to new cluster administrators and programmers. Guidelines for 
debugging,
profiling, performance tuning, and managing jobs from multiple users 
round
out this immensely useful book.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/highperlinuxc/index.html

Chapter 10, "Management Software," is available online:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/highperlinuxc/chapter/index.html

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

***O'Reilly Happenings at Macworld SF--January 10-14
Macworld SF 2005 is shaping up to be a busy show for O'Reilly Media 
(Booth
#2225). We have great specials, lots of books, a full speaker lineup, 
and
a menu of activities. Plus, we're partnering with some of the Mac OS X
Innovator Contest winners to provide discounts on award-winning 
software.
Here's a comprehensive overview:
http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2004/12/17/macworld.html

And make sure you come by the booth on Tuesday, January 11 and say hi 
to
me--Marsee. I'll be there all day.

***Free Exhibit Hall Pass for Macworld, San Francisco, CA--
  January 11-14
A PDF version of the Macworld Pass is available online to print out:
http://www.oreilly.com/images/oreilly/ug/macworld2005.pdf

================================================
Conference News
================================================
***Registration is Open 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
---------------------
***"Make" Subscriptions Now 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 our very 
best
offer for charter subscribers: five volumes for the cost of four.
Subscribe at:
https://www.pubservice.com/MK/Subnew.aspx?PC=MK&PK=M5ZUGLA


***Renewable Energy--The Next Opportunity for Silicon Valley
There are striking parallels between the renewable energy industry 
today
and the personal computing industry circa 1980. Brian McConnell argues
that the same basic dynamics that fueled the PC boom in Silicon Valley
apply to renewable energy, and this represents an important 
opportunity,
especially as the computing industry matures and becomes a commoditized
consumer product business. 
http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/q/articles

---------------------
Open Source
---------------------
***Freedom, Innovation, and Convenience: The RMS Interview 
Since 1984, Richard M. Stallman has fought for software freedom as a
coder, a project leader, and a philosopher. The GNU GPL and GNU/Linux
projects are just two results of that work. Federico Biancuzzi recently
interviewed RMS about his views on freedom, the GNU project, and the 
Linux
kernel and GNU/Linux distributions.
http://www.linuxdevcenter.com/pub/a/linux/2004/12/22/rms_interview.html


***Ten Tips for Building Your First High-Performance Cluster 
Been meaning to build your very first high-performance Linux cluster, 
but
fear the trials and tribulations? Joseph D. Sloan, author of "High
Performance Linux Clusters with OSCAR, Rocks, OpenMosix, and MPI," 
saves
you the trouble with ten very helpful tips. Now you can get all of the
cost effectiveness of high-performance clusters without all of the
frustration.
http://www.linuxdevcenter.com/pub/a/linux/2004/12/29/lnxclstrs_10.html


***Clever Tricks with MythTV 
Building your own personal video recorder means that you can avoid
manufacturer- or broadcaster-enforced restrictions. That's not all,
though. John Littler presents some clever ideas on what you can 
accomplish
with a MythTV box, some free time, and a little work. 
http://www.linuxdevcenter.com/pub/a/linux/2004/12/29/mythtv_hacks.html

---------------------
Mac
---------------------
***Tim O'Reilly, Derrick Story, and David Pogue make the 2004 MDJ 
  Power 25 List
"MDJ," the Journal for Serious Macintosh Users, today released the 
fifth
annual MDJ Power 25 list distilled from surveys sent to industry movers
and shakers (including journalists, executives, engineers, and Apple
Computer insiders).
http://www.macjournals.com/gcsf/mdj_power_25_2004.html


***Build an eDoc Reader for your iPod 
Wouldn't you like to read large text documents, PDF files, and other 
eDocs
on your 3G iPod (or newer)? In this first part of a three-part series,
Matthew Russell shows you how to do so using Xcode.
http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2004/12/14/ipod_reader.html

Build an eDoc Reader for your iPod, Part 2:
http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2004/12/17/ipod_reader.html


***Book Worms into Minds of PC Cultists
A recent review of the No Stach's "Cult of Mac" in "The Inquirer," a UK
publication.
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=20351

---------------------
Windows/.NET
---------------------
***Windows Explorer Hacks 
Face it, Windows Explorer is old and tired. Mitch Tulloch, author of
"Windows Server Hacks," shows you how to power up this venerable 
utility
and make it an actual powerhouse.
http://www.windowsdevcenter.com/pub/a/windows/2004/12/21/windows_explorer_hacks.html


***Inside Secrets of MSN Desktop Search 
MSN's Desktop Search is a surprisingly powerful desktop search tool, 
with
loads of hidden features and hacks. Wei-Meng Lee opens up the hood and
takes a look, and fills you in on what he finds.
http://www.windowsdevcenter.com/pub/a/windows/2004/12/21/msd_desktop_search.html

---------------------
Java
---------------------
***Towards Bug-Free Code 
Test-driven development sometimes sounds better than it turns out to 
be.
Early decisions to tightly couple functional parts of your system can 
make
it a lot less amenable to testing than it ought to be. As Ashwin
Jayaprakash shows, J2SE 5.0's generics make working with abstract 
classes
and interfaces easier than it used to be, which encourages loose 
coupling
and facilitates testing.
http://www.onjava.com/pub/a/onjava/2004/12/22/towardsbugfree.html

***ONJava 2004 in Review: Popular Articles
Editor Chris Adamson takes a look back at some of the most popular
articles published on ONJava during the last year.
http://www.onjava.com/pub/a/onjava/2004/12/22/2004-yearender-1.html

---------------------
Digital Media
---------------------
***Exporting QuickTime Movies with Simple Video Out X
You have great QuickTime content in your computer, but it seems not so
easy to play it on a TV or send it to a VCR or DVD recorder without 
firing
up iMovie or Final Cut. Or is it? Erica Sadun has discovered a simple 
but
powerful (and free) application that makes exporting QuickTime as fun 
as
watching it.
http://digitalmedia.oreilly.com/2004/12/22/video_out.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

Until next time--

Marsee