From perl at tecspy.com Sat Dec 2 05:56:36 2006 From: perl at tecspy.com (Michael Erskine (at home!)) Date: Sat, 02 Dec 2006 13:56:36 +0000 Subject: [Nottingham-pm] O'Reilly UK User Group Programme - NEWSLETTER Issue 10-06 Message-ID: <45718614.80808@tecspy.com> All, here's the latest from Josette at O'Reilly - note that the discount is available to us in the UK - you'll need to order through me until the online store is working in ?'s. Regards, Michael Erskine. P.S. We won't be able to get any more free review books until people start actually doing reviews of their free books! -------------- >8 ---- cut here ---- >8 ---------------- O'Reilly UK User Group Programme NEWSLETTER Issue 10-06 We have some good news to announce. We've just increased the user group discount to 35% off all books and PDFs. The discount code stays the same--DSUG. And don't forget we still offer free shipping for orders in the US of $29.95 or more. If you have any questions about this discount, the UG program, or need to request books for your group, just send me an email. Within a week, this newsletter will be available to be downloaded in pdf format from the Delphi and C# Developers Group web site at http://www.richplum.co.uk/oreilly/10.06.pdf. You are welcome to create a link to it for your members' use. Previous newsletters are available at ? http://www.richplum.co.uk/oreilly/0906.pdf http://www.richplum.co.uk/oreilly/0806.pdf http://www.richplum.co.uk/oreilly/0706.pdf http://www.richplum.co.uk/oreilly/0606.pdf http://www.richplum.co.uk/oreilly/0506.pdf http://www.richplum.co.uk/oreilly/0406.pdf http://www.richplum.co.uk/oreilly/0306.pdf http://www.richplum.co.uk/oreilly/0206.pdf http://www.richplum.co.uk/oreilly/0106.pdf Our aim is to have both formats available at the same time, but that might take us a little longer. ================================================ HIGHLIGHTS ================================================ NEWS FROM O?REILLY AND BEYOND -Web 2.0 Summit Media Coverage -Call Yourself a Programmer? -User Group Members Receive a Special 30% Discount on O'Reilly Learning Courses -Getting Started with WSGI -Open Tools for MySQL Administrators -Developing High Performance Asynchronous IO Applications -Inside Aperture--Community for Serious Photographers -Top Ten Aperture Features -Making a Smooth Move from .Mac to Google -Text Tricks and More Text Tricks -Creating Visual Studio Project Templates -Top 10 Tips for Using Windows PowerShell -Advanced Java Content Repository API -Scaling Enterprise Java on 64-bit Multi-Core X86-Based Servers -Demystifying LDAP Data -OpenBSD 4.0: Pufferix's Adventures -Ken Milburn Unplugged -Deke McClelland on Software -MAKE Podcast: Colin Berry reads Spinout BOOK NEWS - Books for review - Coming soon CONFERENCE NEWS YOUR BOOK REVIEWS YOUR NEWS ================================================ NEWS FROM O?REILLY AND BEYOND ================================================ --------------------- General News --------------------- ***Web 2.0 Summit 2006 Media Coverage Read all the announcements, articles, blogs, photos, and podcasts made at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco. ***Call Yourself a Programmer? Announcing the O'Reilly Code Quiz, a curiously addictive game that'll stress test your coding knowledge. Brought to you by O'Reilly Labs, where all good things begin as zeros and ones. ***User Group Members Receive a Special 30% Discount on O'Reilly Learning Courses As an O'Reilly User Group member, you save on all the courses in the following University of Illinois Certificate Series: -Linux/Unix System Administration -Web Programming -Open Source Programming -.NET Programming To redeem, use Promotion Code "ORALL1," good for a 30% discount, in Step #3 of the enrolment process. Each course comes with a free O'Reilly book and a 7-day money-back guarantee. Register online: --------------------- Open Source --------------------- ***Getting Started with WSGI Python 2.5 added support for the WSGI standard. This is a specification for web programming that allows interoperability between frameworks and components. It's also terribly easy to use. Jason Briggs introduces WSGI and gives the background you need to use it productively. ***Open Tools for MySQL Administrators The MySQL distribution provides several tools for database developers and administrators, but they don't always work everywhere. Fortunately, the worldwide MySQL community has produced plenty of useful tools. Baron Schwartz surveys the possibilities and offers suggestions for what you should use. ***Developing High Performance Asynchronous IO Applications When concurrency and latency are your bottlenecks, synchronous IO is a problem--even in a multithreaded or multiprocess model. This is especially evident when dealing with high volumes of incoming mail, especially if much of it is spam. Stas Bekman and his team at MailChannels recently built a scalable, modern, event-based system for asynchronous IO. Here's how they did it. --------------------- Digital Media --------------------- ***Inside Aperture--Community for Serious Photographers Our Inside Aperture site draws upon community expertise to provide you with tips and real-life experiences from professional shooters who use Apple's premier photo management application to organize, edit, and output their images. This site features weblogs, articles, podcasts, and tutorials?-all focused to help you improve your digital photography workflow. ***Top Ten Aperture Features Apple's ground-breaking, workflow tool for professional photographers has caused quite a stir in the imaging community. After working with Aperture for a year, I've decided that although it's not perfect, it has some incredible and exciting features that photographers can really use. --------------------- Mac --------------------- ***Making a Smooth Move from .Mac to Google Matthew Russell presents a practical approach for a smooth move from .Mac to a Google-centric web experience. Getting your email, address book, calendar, online storage, online photos, and blog squared away are all covered in this detailed transition plan. ***Text Tricks and More Text Tricks We've covered text editors here before. We know, from various posts at the Mac DevCenter blog, that our readers are often as fanatical about using plain text as we are. Tips on using your editor of choice are easy to find, but we thought it would be fun to gather a whole bunch of them together for the first time; not only to spread the word, but to invite our readers to add their own tips and time-savers. We've also asked a handful of Mac users to contribute their own favorite text tricks. --------------------- Windows/.NET --------------------- ***Creating Visual Studio Project Templates Visual Studio 2005 offers a great tool for those who create largely identical projects--custom project and item templates--that automates project creation and eliminates the need to add the same references, project items, or even largely identical code to new projects. Ron Petrusha shows you how. ***Top 10 Tips for Using Windows PowerShell PowerShell is Microsoft's newest replacement for the command line, and it's far more powerful than any command-line prompt Microsoft has given us before. Starting to learn it, unfortunately, can be a bit overwhelming. Jeff Cogswell offers his top 10 tips for getting the most out of it. --------------------- Java --------------------- ***Advanced Java Content Repository API First presented in "What Is Java Content Repository," JSR-170 offers a standard means for content management systems to present their persistent data stores to Java applications. In this article, Sunil Patil explores some of JCR's optional features--namely, the very useful concepts of versioning and observability. ***Scaling Enterprise Java on 64-bit Multi-Core X86-Based Servers Today's enterprise server--indeed, the environment--isn't what it was when Java was born. Slow networked machines have been replaced by fast, 64-bit multi-core servers that can house all your tiers in one box or even virtualize servers within the server. This has a significant effect on the design and deployment of your Java enterprise application, and Michael Yuan and Dave Jaffe show you how to get the most out of your hardware. --------------------- Sys Admin/Web --------------------- ***Demystifying LDAP Data Is LDAP a database or a protocol? Is it understandable and deployable without reading a thousand pages of explanation and documentation? Brian Jones explains LDAP schemas and the layout of data to help you understand what you can store and how you can retrieve it. ***OpenBSD 4.0: Pufferix's Adventures On October 18th, OpenBSD celebrated its 11th birthday. Now it's time for the release of OpenBSD 4.0. To celebrate both milestones, Federico Biancuzzi interviewed over 20 developers to discuss the new features of this release and the continual work to get hardware specifications from vendors. --------------------- Podcasts --------------------- ***Ken Milburn Unplugged Take a listen. The author of Digital Photography Expert Techniques, Second Edition knew Dan Rather in college, started his career taking publicity photos of Hollywood starlets, and shot album covers for Capitol Records. Ken talks to O'Reilly staffer Sara Peyton about his career, tips and tricks, and creating the wow factor. (16 minutes 25 seconds) ******Deke McClelland on Software O'Reilly author Deke McClelland talks to Mac Edition Radio's Harris Fogel about his series of bestselling One-on-One books and Photoshop Elements. ***MAKE Podcast: Colin Berry Colin Berry reads "Spinout," the touching story he wrote for MAKE, Volume 07, about his brother's efforts to build and race a car in the soap box derby in Longmont, Colo. Unfortunately, he was up against more than just his own bad luck. ================================================ BOOK NEWS ================================================ Copies of our books are available for your members to review -- send me an email with the delivery address together with the book you would like to review. When the review is published, please send me a copy or the url. I would also appreciate if you could send a copy to www.amazon.co.uk Latest books available for review ? o ActionScript 3.0 Cookbook Well before Ajax and Windows Presentation Foundation, Macromedia Flash provided the first method for building "rich" web pages. Now, Adobe is making Flash a full-fledged development environment, and learning ActionScript 3.0 is key. That's a challenge for even the most experienced Flash developer. This Cookbook offers more than 300 solutions to solve a wide range of coding dilemmas, so you can learn to work with the new version right away. o Craft Volume 01 Craft is the first project-based magazine dedicated to the renaissance that is occurring within the world of crafts. Volume 01, the premier issue, features 23 projects with a twist! Make a programmable LED shirt, turn dud shoes into great knitted boots, felt an iPod cocoon, embroider a skateboard, and much more. o CSS Cookbook, Second Edition For those all-too-common dilemmas that crop up with each project, CSS Cookbook provides hundreds of practical examples with CSS code recipes that you can use immediately to format your web pages. Arranged in a quick-lookup format for easy reference, the second edition has been updated to explain the unique behavior of the latest browsers: Microsoft's IE 7 and Mozilla's Firefox 1.5. Also, the book has been expanded to cover the interaction of CSS and images and now includes more recipes for beginning CSS users. o CSS: The Definitive Guide, Third Edition CSS: The Definitive Guide, 3rd Edition, provides you with a comprehensive guide to CSS implementation, along with a thorough review of all aspects of CSS 2.1. Updated to cover Internet Explorer 7, Microsoft's vastly improved browser, this new edition includes content on positioning, lists and generated content, table layout, user interface, paged media, and more. o Digital Photography Expert Techniques, Second Edition Expert advice and pro strategies help photographers at every level become more competent in their work routines. Through step-by-step procedures based on hard-nosed experience, professional photographer Ken Milburn describes a complete workflow sequence that begins with essential photographic equipment and digital darkroom setup, and ends once finished images are in albums, exhibits, web sites, or publications. o Essential CVS, Second Edition This easy-to-follow reference shows a variety of professionals how to use the Concurrent Versions System (CVS), the open source tool that lets you manage versions of anything stored in files. Ideal for software developers tracking different versions of the same code, this comprehensive book also helps system administrators and project managers manage large quantities of documents. A full command reference details aspects of customizing CVS for automation, logging, branching, merging documents, and creating alerts. o Fedora Linux Whether you are running the stable version of Fedora Core or bleeding-edge Rawhide releases, this book has something for every level of user. The modular, lab-based approach not only shows you how things work-but also explains why--and provides you with the answers you need to get up and running with Fedora Linux. o Fine Art Printing for Photographers (Rocky Nook). This book provides the necessary foundation for fine art printing: The understanding of color management, profiling, paper and inks. It demonstrates how to set up the printing workflow as it guides the reader step-by-step through this process from an image file to an outstanding fine art print. o GIMP 2 for Photographers (Rocky Nook) GIMP2 for Photographers is a beginner's guide to the only open source image editing tool which provides a low-cost alternative to expensive programs such as Photoshop. Topics include the basics of image editing and simple adjustments, as well as advanced techniques using layers and masks, stitching of panoramic images, and preparation of high-quality black and white images. The most important editing functions are presented in individual, easy-to-follow workshops. o HTML & XHTML: The Definitive Guide, Sixth Edition Put everthing you need to know about HTML and XHTML at your fingertips. For nearly a decade, hundreds of thousands of web developers have turned to HTML & XHTML: The Definitive Guide to master standards-based web development. Truly a definitive guide, the book combines a unique balance of tutorial material with a comprehensive reference that even the most experienced web professionals keep close at hand. From basic syntax and semantics to guidelines aimed at helping you develop your own distinctive style, this classic is all you need to become fluent in the language of web design. o iPod: The Missing Manual, Fifth Edition With iPod and iTunes, Apple's gotten the world hooked on portable music, pictures, and videos. One thing they haven't delivered, though, is an easy guide for getting the most from your sleek little entertainment center. This new edition thoroughly covers the redesigned iPod Nanos, the video iPod, the tiny Shuffle and the overhauled iTunes 7. Each page sports easy-to-follow color graphics, crystal-clear explanations, and guidance on the most useful things your iPod can do. o Java Generics and Collections Java Generics and Collections covers everything from the most basic uses of generics to the strangest corner cases. It teaches you everything you need to know about the collections libraries, so you'll always know which collection is appropriate for any given task, and how to use it. o Learning JavaScript Using the latest examples from modern browser development practices, Learning JavaScript teaches you how to integrate the language with the browser environment, and how to practice proper coding techniques for standards-compliant web sites. By the end of the book, you'll be able to use all of the JavaScript language and many of the object models provided by web browsers, and you'll even be able to create a basic Ajax application. o Learning MySQL Learning MySQL provides all the tools you need to set up and design an effective database. This richly detailed tutorial will help you design scalable and flexible databases, create powerful queries using SQL, and configure MySQL for improved security. After covering the basics, the book travels far into MySQL's subtleties, including complex queries and joins, how to interact with the database over the Web using PHP or Perl, and important house-keeping such as backups and security. http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/learnmysql/" \l "top o MAKE: Technology on Your Time Volume 08 Get ready to play when Make Volume 08, our "Toys and Games" issue, hits the stands. You'll learn how to build a wind-up bird that really flies, how to restore an old pinball machine, and learn the secret history of the world's best-selling computer game from Myst's co-creator. You'll also meet a well-known toy inventor and learn how to make molds and casts with MythBusters star Adam Savage. o MCSE Core Elective Exams in a Nutshell For Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 administrators preparing for Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) core exam 70-270, and core exams 70-297, and 70-298, this book is invaluable. Not only does it provide the resources you need to succeed on the exams, but to succeed in the real world as well. MCSE Core Elective Exams in a Nutshell allows you to see all of the topics expected for mastery in each of the exams. Each exam is covered in three parts: Exam Overview, Study Guide and Test Your Knowledge sections. This makes for easy reference and a great study aid. o Network Security Hacks, Second Edition This second edition of Network Security Hacks offers 125 concise and practical hacks, including more information for Windows administrators, hacks for wireless networking (such as setting up a captive portal and securing against rogue hotspots), and techniques to ensure privacy and anonymity, including ways to evade network traffic analysis, encrypt email and files, and protect against phishing attacks. System administrators looking for reliable answers will also find concise examples of applied encryption, intrusion detection, logging, trending and incident response. o Practical Color Management: Eddie Tapp on Digital Photography The second book in this acclaimed series delves into color management, a topic that has needlessly become a mystery to experienced digital photographers. With his easygoing yet authoritative style, noted expert Eddie Tapp explains how color management can be integrated into the overall photographic workflow. Included is a chapter on technical aspectsfrom color guru Rick Lucas. o Photoshop Elements 5: The Missing Manual The most popular photo-editing program on the market, Photoshop Elements not only has Photoshop's marvelous powers, but includes creative capabilities the mothership lacks. The latest version, Photoshop Elements 5, offers new scrapbook features among many other improvements. Our Missing Manual carefully explains every feature (something no other book has done) by putting each one into a clear, easy-to-understand context -- all with a bit of wit and good humor. o Process Improvement Essentials Process Improvement Essentials combines the foundation needed to understand process improvement theory with the best practices to help individuals implement process improvement initiatives in their organization. The three leading programs: ISO 9001:2000, CMMI, and Six Sigma--amidst the buzz and hype--tend to get lumped together under a common label. This book delivers a combined guide to all three programs, compares their applicability, and then sets the foundation for further exploration. o Programming Atlas Programming Atlas is not just another "drag and drop" ASP.NET 2.0 book, but dives into the technologies that make it work. You'll begin with a tour of the technologies most often associated with Ajax, from JavaScript and XMLHttpRequest to JSON and the DOM. With the fundamentals in place, author JavaScript expert Christian Wenz unpacks the Atlas framework and shows you how to put its tools to work. o Programming Embedded Systems, Second Edition Whether you're writing your first embedded program, designing the latest generation of hand-held whatchamacalits, or managing the people who do, this book is for you. Programming Embedded Systems will help you develop the knowledge and skills you need to achieve proficiency with embedded software. o Visual Basic 2005 Cookbook This book will help you solve more than 300 of the most common and not-so-common tasks that working Visual Basic 2005 programmers face every day. If you're a seasoned .NET developer, beginning Visual Basic programmer, or a developer seeking a simple and clear migration path from VB6 to Visual Basic 2005, the Visual Basic 2005 Cookbook delivers a practical collection of problem-solving recipes for a broad range of Visual Basic programming tasks. It's sure to save you time, serving up the code you need, when you need it. ****Coming Soon o Color Management in Digital Photography (Rocky Nook) o Essential Electronics for Software Folk (Pragmatic Bookshelf) o Everyday Scripting with Ruby (Pragmatic Bookshelf) o Head First Object-Oriented Analysis and Design o Information Architecture for the World Wide Web, Third Edition o Mastering Landscape Photography (Rocky Nook) o More Rails Recipes (Pragmatic Bookshelft) o MySQL Cookbook, Second Edition o Pragmatic Unit Testing in C# with NUnit, Second Edition (Pragmatic Bookshelf) o SQL Hacks ================================================ Conference News ================================================ ***Registration is now open for the 2007 Emerging Telephony Conference Explore the strategies for taming disruption and exploit opportunities being created by web telephony innovations. Use code "etel07usrg" when you register, and receive 15% off the early registration price. To register for the conference, go to: ***Speak at RailsConf O'Reilly Media and Ruby Central are seeking leaders for RailsConf sessions and tutorials. Are you a hacker, Rubyist, trainer, web developer, and/or entrepreneur with something to share? If so, submit a proposal. ==================================================== YOUR EVENTS ==================================================== *** VMware London December 1st This seminar will provide an overview of Virtualisation including specifics on SAN virtualisation and the relationship between VMware and Hewlett-Packard. It will provide the opportunity for In-depth discussions with specialist VMware, HP and OCSL consultants and to witness demonstrations in the HP labs. ==================================================== O?REILLY WILL BE THERE! ==================================================== *** OpenCON 2006 2/3 December, Venice, Italy The conference is entirely organized by OpenBEER (http://www.openbeer.it ), the italian OpenBSD users group. OpenCON lasts about two days and, as usual, many official developers have already confirmed their presence. The main topics will be: information security, secure programming, and anything related to OpenBSD. The manifestation is completely free of charge, but it will be possible to buy tshirts and gadgets to fund both OpenCON and OpenBSD. ***Flash on the Beach Flash on the Beach conference is the first major Flash conference in the UK for over 6 years! Over 40 of the world's most talented Flash designers, developers and artists presenting on 3 tracks over 3 full days with mixer get togethers each morning and evening for essential networking opportunities. Flash on the Beach has brought together the most creative, technical, inspirational awe-inspiring, educational and entertaining industry leading speakers in the rich media industry. ***London Perl Workshop The London Perl Workshop is a free one-day conference in central London, UK. It will be held on Saturday the 9th of December, 2006 at Westminster University's New Cavendish Campus ================================================ YOUR BOOK REVIEWS ================================================ ***Nordest Perl Mongers reviewed ? Building Scalable Web Sites ? http://www.streppone.it/cosimo/work/books/BuildingScalableWebSites.html (Italian) http://www.streppone.it/cosimo/work/books/BuildingScalableWebSites.html.en (English) ***Egyptian Java User Group reviewed - Programming Jakarta Struts - http://www.egjug.org/programming_jakarta_struts_second_edition_book_review and http://egjug.org/hashimblog/2006/11/18/programming-jakarta-struts-second-edition-book-review/ ***London Perlmongers reviewed ? Perl Hacks - http://london.pm.org/reviews/perl_hacks.html and http://dave.org.uk/reviews/perlhacks.html That's all for now Josette *************************** The information contained in this e-mail message and any attachments is intended for the addressee only and may be confidential. If you are not the addressee, you must not read, use, pass on or copy this message or any attachments or disclose its contents to anyone. If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify us by returning the e-mail and delete all copies of this message including any attachments. E-mails cannot be guaranteed to be secure or error free as information could be intercepted, corrupted, lost, destroyed, arrive late or incomplete or contain viruses. The sender does not accept any liability for any errors or omissions in the contents of this message, which arise as a result of e-mail transmission. If verification is required please request a hard copy version. Thank you. ***************************