From george at metaart.org Tue Feb 3 14:40:57 2004 From: george at metaart.org (George Woolley) Date: Mon Aug 2 21:33:37 2004 Subject: [oak perl] February Oakland.pm Meeting: Tue, the 10th Message-ID: <200402031240.57330.george@metaart.org> February Meeting Announcement from the Oakland.pm website at http://oakland.pm.org/ ....................................... when: Tue. Feb. 10 at 7:30-9:30pm. (We meet 2nd Tuesdays.) where: Joshua Wait's place 1903 Virginia Street Apt. 3 Berkeley, CA 94709 directions: [link to] Joshua's pdf map and directions [link to] George's directions and ascii map theme: Alternatives to Regex what: introductions giveaways short talks and discussion [link to] March Meeting [info] who: open to anyone interested. how much: no fee for our meetings. From george at metaart.org Wed Feb 4 02:31:53 2004 From: george at metaart.org (George Woolley) Date: Mon Aug 2 21:33:37 2004 Subject: [oak perl] Fwd: Newsletter from O'Reilly UG Program, February 3 Message-ID: <200402040031.53872.george@metaart.org> ================================================================ O'Reilly News for User Group Members February 3, 2004 ================================================================ ---------------------------------------------------------------- Book News ---------------------------------------------------------------- -Hardware Hacking Projects for Geeks -C# Cookbook -Security Assessment -Wicked Cool Shell Scripts ---------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming Events ---------------------------------------------------------------- -Darryl Le??n, Ph.D. ("Sequence Analysis in a Nutshell"), San Diego Bioinformatics Forum, San Diego--February 10 -Jesse Liberty ("Programming C#," "Programming Visual Basic .NET"), .NET Face to Face, Atlanta, GA--February 20-22 ---------------------------------------------------------------- Conferences ---------------------------------------------------------------- -Joe Trippi keynote added to Digital Democracy Teach-In -O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference -OSCON 2004: Call for Participation--Last Chance ---------------------------------------------------------------- News ---------------------------------------------------------------- -Wireless Mesh Networking -Interviews with Digital Democracy Activists -The Ideal Digital Photographer's Workflow, Part 2 -The New Breed of Version Control Systems -Why Run Free Software on a PDA? -Troubleshooting with Postfix Logs -What's New in Tomcat 5 -Effective Forms Authentication, Part 1 -Serialization in .NET, Part 1 -The Macintosh's Twisted Truth -Smart File Sharing Between Macs and PCs ---------------------------------------------------------------- News From Your Peers ---------------------------------------------------------------- -San Gabriel Valley Linux Users Group Meeting, Pasadena, CA--February 12 ================================================ 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, 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 ---------------------------------------------------------------- O'Reilly New Releases ---------------------------------------------------------------- ***Hardware Hacking Projects for Geeks ISBN: 0596003145 >From building a home arcade machine to creating a cubicle intrusion detection system, "Hardware Hacking Projects for Geeks" offers an array of inventive, customized electronics projects for the geek who can't help looking at a gadget and wondering how it might be "upgraded." The book begins with less complex hacking projects then moves into more advanced hacks. Clear step-by-step instructions allow even those with no formal electronics- or hardware-engineering skills to hack real hardware in clever ways. http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/hardwarehks/ Excerpts are available free online: http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/hardwarehks/chapter/index.html ***C# Cookbook ISBN: 0596003390 "C# Cookbook" provides practical answers to day-to-day C# programming questions, using code recipes collected especially for developers working on the .NET platform. In addition to the complete, documented code samples showing how to solve hundreds of specific problems, you'll find discussions of how the underlying technology works as well as material on alternatives, limitations, and other considerations where appropriate. This definitive collection of recipes will help developers of all levels solve problems now. http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/csharpckbk/ Chapter 8, "Regular Expressions," is available free online: http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/csharpckbk/chapter/index.html ---------------------------------------------------------------- Publishing Partners New Releases ---------------------------------------------------------------- ***Security Assessment Publisher: Syngress ISBN: 1932266968 The National Security Agency's INFOSEC Assessment Methodology (IAM) provides guidelines for performing an analysis of how information is handled within an organization: looking at the systems that store, transfer, and process information. It also analyzes the impact to an organization if there is a loss of integrity, confidentiality, or availability. This book shows how to do a complete security assessment based on the NSA's guidelines. http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/1932266968/ ***Wicked Cool Shell Scripts Publisher: No Starch Press ISBN: 1593270127 101 useful, customizable, and fun Linux, Mac OS X and UNIX shell scripts that you can use to solve common problems and personalize your computing environment. Includes an interactive calculator, a spell checker, a disk backup utility, a weather tracker, a web logfile analysis tool, and much more. The cookbook-style examples are all written in Bourne Shell (sh) syntax. http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/1593270127/ ================================================ Upcoming Events ================================================ ***For more events, please see: http://events.oreilly.com/ ***Darryl Le??n, Ph.D. ("Sequence Analysis in a Nutshell"), San Diego Bioinformatics Forum, San Diego--February 10 Darryl will discuss "Bioinformatics: What is commercially viable and what is not." 5:30-8:00pm Diversa Corporation 4955 Directors Place, San Diego, CA 92121 http://www.sdbioinfo.org/next.html ***Jesse Liberty ("Programming C#," "Programming Visual Basic .NET"), .NET Face to Face, Atlanta, GA--February 20-22 Jesse is a featured speaker at this weekend conference for programmers working in .NET. Marriott Atlanta Century Center, Atlanta, GA. For Registration and information go to: http://www.mentor-network.com/ ================================================ Conference News ================================================ ***Joe Trippi keynote added to Digital Democracy Teach-In Joe Trippi, the man whose ground-breaking use of Internet-based campaigning propelled Howard Dean from obscurity to early front-runner, has just signed on as keynoter at the Digital Democracy Teach-In. Former Dean campaign manager Trippi will take Teach-In participants inside the campaign's unconventional experiment in Internet politics, and look at both victories and lessons learned. While Dean may no longer be leading the pack, the other candidates are rushing to emulate Trippi's Internet strategy--as "Wired News" declared recently, "Internet politics is dead. Long live Internet politics." Trippi will kick off the Teach-In at 8:30 am this coming Monday, February 9, in San Diego, CA. Digital Democracy Teach-In February 9, 2004 Westin Horton Plaza, San Diego, CA http://conferences.oreillynet.com/et2004/edemo.csp Co-located with the O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference To register, go to: (Sorry, no user group discounts apply.) http://conferences.oreillynet.com/cs/et2004/create/ord_et04?x-t=edemo.create. form ***O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference February 9-12, 2004 Westin Horton Plaza San Diego San Diego, CA 92101 http://conferences.oreilly.com/etech/ Use code DSUG when you register, and receive 20% off conference pricing. To register for the conference, go to: http://conferences.oreillynet.com/pub/w/28/register.html ***Last Chance--OSCON 2004: Call for Participation Individuals and companies interested in making presentations or giving tutorials at next summer's O'Reilly Open Source Convention in Portland, Oregon are invited to submit proposals. This year's theme is "Opening the Future: Discover, Develop, Deliver." Tracks of interest run the open source gamut from Apache to XML, and we're also looking for proposals for sessions that help attendees add open source to their companies. The deadline for submitting proposals is February 9. To submit a proposal, go to: http://conferences.oreillynet.com/cs/os2004/create/e_sess ================================================ News From O'Reilly & Beyond ================================================ --------------------- General News --------------------- ***Wireless Mesh Networking Tomas Krag and Sebastian Buttrich take a look at some of the principles of wireless mesh networking and they demonstrate how to install and run a mesh network on a Linux-based computer. http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/wireless/2004/01/22/wirelessmesh.html Tomas will discuss how wireless technologies can bring Internet and Intranet connectivity to the developing world at O'Reilly's upcoming ETech 2004. http://conferences.oreilly.com/etech/ ***Interviews with Digital Democracy Activists On a recent NPR "Fresh Air" program, Terry Gross interviewed William Greene of RightMarch.com, as well as Wes Boyd and Eli Pariser of MoveOn.org. William and Wes will both be featured speakers on February 9 at O'Reilly's Digital Democracy Teach-In. http://freshair.npr.org/day_fa.jhtml?display=day&todayDate=01/21/2004 ***The Ideal Digital Photographer's Workflow, Part 2 Ken Milburn follows up on suggestions he made in Part 1 of this two-part series about creating a minimally destructive workflow for the work you do inside image-editing software. Here he offers five nondestructive editing steps to take once you've downloaded your images. Then he provides some second-stage editing techniques to enhance the impact your images will have on your clients, or your friends and family. Ken is the author of the upcoming "Digital Photography: Expert Techniques." http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/javascript/2004/01/21/digital_photography.htm l --------------------- Open Source --------------------- ***The New Breed of Version Control Systems CVS, part of the glue that holds open source development together, is showing its age. Many competitors have emerged recently, fixing misfeatures and adding new ideas. Shlomi Fish explores several current open source version control systems that may be better for your needs than CVS. http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/onlamp/2004/01/29/scm_overview.html ***Why Run Free Software on a PDA? As PDAs gain power and capabilities, embedded Linux is more and more attractive. Sharp's Zaurus is a popular Linux PDA. Why aren't more palmtop computers running free software? Guylhem Aznar explores and evangelizes Linux on small devices. http://www.linuxdevcenter.com/pub/a/linux/2004/01/29/zaurus.html ***Troubleshooting with Postfix Logs Kyle Dent, author of "Postfix: The Definitive Guide," discusses Postfix logging in general, how to find all relevant information in the logs, and how to increase the amount of logging when more information is needed. He also suggests a few configuration guidelines that might help prevent problems from the start. http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/onlamp/2004/01/22/postfix.html --------------------- Java --------------------- ***What's New in Tomcat 5 In December 2003, the Apache Tomcat developers released version 5.0.16 as the first stable release of Tomcat 5. Jason Brittain looks at the latest features and offers insight into the goals established for version 5.0, which had a direct impact on development. http://www.onjava.com/pub/a/onjava/2004/01/28/tomcat5.html Jason is a coauthor of "Tomcat: The Definitive Guide." ISBN: 0596003188 http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/tomcat/index.html --------------------- .NET --------------------- ***Effective Forms Authentication, Part 1 ASP.NET offers several possibilities for authenticating users, but when you come right down to it, there's only one reasonable alternative for most applications: forms authentication. Mike Gunderloy takes you step-by-step through creating a forms authentication project and helps you avoid the potholes. http://www.ondotnet.com/pub/a/dotnet/2004/02/02/effectiveformsauth.html ***Serialization in .NET, Part 1 Serialization of data using built-in .NET support makes persistence easy and reusable. Dan Frumin reviews the support available for serialization and look at a couple of scenarios for using it. http://www.ondotnet.com/pub/a/dotnet/2004/01/26/serializationpt1.html --------------------- Mac --------------------- ***The Macintosh's Twisted Truth Here's a recent "Wired News" article abridged from Owen Linzmayer's new release, "Apple Confidential 2.0: The Definitive History of the World's Most Colorful Company." http://www.wired.com/news/mac/0,2125,61795,00.html Apple Confidential 2.0 No Starch Press ISBN: 1593270100 http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/1593270100/ ***Smart File Sharing Between Macs and PCs There are lots of ways to share files between Macs and PCs, and most of them are aggravating at best. Wei Meng Lee shows you a method that's much easier and cleaner than just about every other solution. http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2004/01/30/pc_share.html ================================================ News From Your Peers ================================================ ***San Gabriel Valley Linux Users Group Meeting, Pasadena, CA--February 12 Come to the next meeting of SGVLUG to see "Hacking TiVo" by Claude Felizardo. This presentation will cover Tivo hacks, selection criteria, and enhancing one of today's most popular consumer electronics gadgets--the TiVo. Time: 7-9pm Location: Guggenheim Building, Room 101 on the Caltech Campus in Pasadena, CA For directions and more information, go to: http://www.sgvlug.org/ Until next time-- Marsee ------------------------------------------------------- From george at metaart.org Fri Feb 6 00:05:57 2004 From: george at metaart.org (George Woolley) Date: Mon Aug 2 21:33:37 2004 Subject: [oak perl] Google Ranking Message-ID: <200402052205.57261.george@metaart.org> Reference: http://www.google.com/technology/pigeonrank.html And now we know. From george at metaart.org Fri Feb 6 11:06:22 2004 From: george at metaart.org (George Woolley) Date: Mon Aug 2 21:33:37 2004 Subject: [oak perl] Review of Mastering Regular Expressions Message-ID: <200402060906.22838.george@metaart.org> I've completed a review of "Mastering Regular Expressions" which you can read at http://oakland.pm.org/reviews/regex_master2.html I also put the short version of the review on the O'Reilly site. George From george at metaart.org Fri Feb 6 11:13:37 2004 From: george at metaart.org (George Woolley) Date: Mon Aug 2 21:33:37 2004 Subject: [oak perl] Alternatives to Regex - Talk? Message-ID: <200402060913.37884.george@metaart.org> Tuesday we're having our monthly meeting. The Theme is Alternatives to Regex. Three people have said they'll give short talks. Anyone else? George Snip of February Meeting Announcement from our website http://oakland.pm.org/index.html .................................................. when: Tue. Feb. 10 at 7:30-9:30pm. (We meet 2nd Tuesdays.) where: Joshua Wait's place 1903 Virginia Street Apt. 3 Berkeley, CA 94709 directions: [link to] Joshua's pdf map and directions [link to] George's directions and ascii map theme: Alternatives to Regex what: introductions giveaways short talks and discussion [link to] March Meeting [announcement] who: open to anyone interested. how much: no fee for our meetings. From george at metaart.org Fri Feb 6 17:39:51 2004 From: george at metaart.org (George Woolley) Date: Mon Aug 2 21:33:37 2004 Subject: [oak perl] Fwd: Excel Annoyances Needed for New Book Message-ID: <200402061539.51353.george@metaart.org> ---------- Forwarded Message ---------- Subject: Excel Annoyances Needed for New Book Date: Friday 06 February 2004 1:18 pm From: Marsee Henon To: george@metaart.org Hey User Group Leader, O'Reilly is pulling together a new book called "Excel Annoyances" and we'd like your help! As you might guess from the title, this book aims to identify the problems, snarls, quirks, bugs, and just dumb things about Excel that drive users nuts. Oh yeah--it also aims to solve these annoyances, too. If any members of your group use Excel--be they newbies or Excel masters--and they have annoyances they'd like to see solved, have them email me (marsee@oreilly.com) with "Excel Annoyance" in the subject line. Just have them note what version of Excel and Windows (or Mac OS) they're using. Thanks for sharing. We'll make sure to get copies of "Excel Annoyances" sent to your group shortly after publication. --Marsee *** An example: LET ME COUNT THE DAYS THE ANNOYANCE: I know you can do date calculations in Excel, whether it's to find how many days late I am on a car payment or to see how long it's been since my last haircut. It's pretty easy to determine the number of days between two dates; just subtract one from the other. But when I do that, the result is another date! Huh? THE FIX: In a blank worksheet, try this little exercise, which should show your age in days: 1. In cell A1, enter your birth date in MM/DD/YYYY format. 2. In cell B1, enter the formula =today() to display the current date. 3. In cell C1, enter the formula =b1-a1. You'll notice that the result of the formula in C1 is some other date, which appears to have no correlation to either of the first dates. How come? When you enter a formula, Excel matches the formatting of the formula's inputs. This works well when you're doing calculations on dollar amounts or percentages; the result comes out formatted just the way you'd want. But in our example, Excel formatted the formula result--a number of days--as a date. *** ------------------------------------------------------- From david at fetter.org Fri Feb 6 18:35:52 2004 From: david at fetter.org (David Fetter) Date: Mon Aug 2 21:33:37 2004 Subject: [oak perl] Fwd: Excel Annoyances Needed for New Book In-Reply-To: <200402061539.51353.george@metaart.org> References: <200402061539.51353.george@metaart.org> Message-ID: <20040207003552.GC4774@fetter.org> On Fri, Feb 06, 2004 at 03:39:51PM -0800, George Woolley wrote: Top Excel Annoyance: I can't buy a Linux version :) Cheers, D > ---------- Forwarded Message ---------- > > Subject: Excel Annoyances Needed for New Book > Date: Friday 06 February 2004 1:18 pm > From: Marsee Henon > To: george@metaart.org > > Hey User Group Leader, > > O'Reilly is pulling together a new book called "Excel Annoyances" and > we'd like your help! As you might guess from the title, this book aims > to identify the problems, snarls, quirks, bugs, and just dumb things > about Excel that drive users nuts. Oh yeah--it also aims to solve these > annoyances, too. > > If any members of your group use Excel--be they newbies or Excel > masters--and they have annoyances they'd like to see solved, have them > email me (marsee@oreilly.com) with "Excel Annoyance" in the subject > line. Just have them note what version of Excel and Windows (or Mac > OS) they're using. > > Thanks for sharing. We'll make sure to get copies of "Excel > Annoyances" sent to your group shortly after publication. > > > --Marsee > > > *** > An example: > > LET ME COUNT THE DAYS > > THE ANNOYANCE: I know you can do date calculations in Excel, whether it's > to find how many days late I am on a car payment or to see how long it's > been since my last haircut. It's pretty easy to determine the number of > days between two dates; just subtract one from the other. But when I do > that, the result is another date! Huh? > > THE FIX: In a blank worksheet, try this little exercise, which should > show your age in days: > > 1. In cell A1, enter your birth date in MM/DD/YYYY format. > > 2. In cell B1, enter the formula =today() to display the current date. > > 3. In cell C1, enter the formula =b1-a1. > > You'll notice that the result of the formula in C1 is some other date, > which appears to have no correlation to either of the first dates. How > come? When you enter a formula, Excel matches the formatting of the > formula's inputs. This works well when you're doing calculations on > dollar amounts or percentages; the result comes out formatted just > the way you'd want. But in our example, Excel formatted the formula > result--a number of days--as a date. > > *** > > ------------------------------------------------------- > > _______________________________________________ > Oakland mailing list > Oakland@mail.pm.org > http://mail.pm.org/mailman/listinfo/oakland -- David Fetter david@fetter.org http://fetter.org/ phone: +1 510 893 6100 cell: +1 415 235 3778 From oaklandpm at eli.users.panix.com Fri Feb 6 18:43:34 2004 From: oaklandpm at eli.users.panix.com (B. E. G.) Date: Mon Aug 2 21:33:37 2004 Subject: [oak perl] Fwd: Excel Annoyances Needed for New Book Message-ID: <200402070043.i170hYO01085@panix2.panix.com> David Fetter wrote: > Top Excel Annoyance: I can't buy a Linux version :) Spreadsheet::ParseExcel has worked well for me (reading and writing), no fancy GUI or anything, but who needs one of those? :^) Benjamin From george at metaart.org Fri Feb 6 18:58:46 2004 From: george at metaart.org (George Woolley) Date: Mon Aug 2 21:33:37 2004 Subject: [oak perl] Fwd: Excel Annoyances Needed for New Book In-Reply-To: <20040207003552.GC4774@fetter.org> References: <200402061539.51353.george@metaart.org> <20040207003552.GC4774@fetter.org> Message-ID: <200402061658.46603.george@metaart.org> OK. I'll play straight man. What would you be willing to pay for a Linux version? On Friday 06 February 2004 4:35 pm, David Fetter wrote: > On Fri, Feb 06, 2004 at 03:39:51PM -0800, George Woolley wrote: > > Top Excel Annoyance: I can't buy a Linux version :) > > Cheers, > D > > > ---------- Forwarded Message ---------- > > > > Subject: Excel Annoyances Needed for New Book > > Date: Friday 06 February 2004 1:18 pm > > From: Marsee Henon > > To: george@metaart.org > > > > Hey User Group Leader, > > > > O'Reilly is pulling together a new book called "Excel Annoyances" and > > we'd like your help! As you might guess from the title, this book aims > > to identify the problems, snarls, quirks, bugs, and just dumb things > > about Excel that drive users nuts. Oh yeah--it also aims to solve these > > annoyances, too. > > > > If any members of your group use Excel--be they newbies or Excel > > masters--and they have annoyances they'd like to see solved, have them > > email me (marsee@oreilly.com) with "Excel Annoyance" in the subject > > line. Just have them note what version of Excel and Windows (or Mac > > OS) they're using. > > > > Thanks for sharing. We'll make sure to get copies of "Excel > > Annoyances" sent to your group shortly after publication. > > > > > > --Marsee > > > > > > *** > > An example: > > > > LET ME COUNT THE DAYS > > > > THE ANNOYANCE: I know you can do date calculations in Excel, whether it's > > to find how many days late I am on a car payment or to see how long it's > > been since my last haircut. It's pretty easy to determine the number of > > days between two dates; just subtract one from the other. But when I do > > that, the result is another date! Huh? > > > > THE FIX: In a blank worksheet, try this little exercise, which should > > show your age in days: > > > > 1. In cell A1, enter your birth date in MM/DD/YYYY format. > > > > 2. In cell B1, enter the formula =today() to display the current date. > > > > 3. In cell C1, enter the formula =b1-a1. > > > > You'll notice that the result of the formula in C1 is some other date, > > which appears to have no correlation to either of the first dates. How > > come? When you enter a formula, Excel matches the formatting of the > > formula's inputs. This works well when you're doing calculations on > > dollar amounts or percentages; the result comes out formatted just > > the way you'd want. But in our example, Excel formatted the formula > > result--a number of days--as a date. > > > > *** > > > > ------------------------------------------------------- > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Oakland mailing list > > Oakland@mail.pm.org > > http://mail.pm.org/mailman/listinfo/oakland From david at fetter.org Fri Feb 6 18:50:12 2004 From: david at fetter.org (David Fetter) Date: Mon Aug 2 21:33:37 2004 Subject: [oak perl] Fwd: Excel Annoyances Needed for New Book In-Reply-To: <200402070043.i170hYO01085@panix2.panix.com> References: <200402070043.i170hYO01085@panix2.panix.com> Message-ID: <20040207005012.GD4774@fetter.org> On Fri, Feb 06, 2004 at 07:43:34PM -0500, B. E. G. wrote: > David Fetter wrote: > > Top Excel Annoyance: I can't buy a Linux version :) > > Spreadsheet::ParseExcel has worked well for me (reading and > writing), no fancy GUI or anything, but who needs one of those? :^) I like Spreadsheet::ParseExcel, and I'd like still more to do spreadsheet-ish things with a spreadsheet. I even bought a copy of MS Office for my Mac laptop. The existence of this product demonstrates that MS is perfectly able to port their stuff to *n*x using a GUI vastly different from their usual one. Anyhow, that date math thing is pretty annoying, too. I bumped into it at work. :P OTOH, I have work, so I'm not complaining :) Cheers, D -- David Fetter david@fetter.org http://fetter.org/ phone: +1 510 893 6100 cell: +1 415 235 3778 From cpm at bitbucket.com Fri Feb 6 18:50:29 2004 From: cpm at bitbucket.com (Craig McLaughlin) Date: Mon Aug 2 21:33:37 2004 Subject: [oak perl] Fwd: Excel Annoyances Needed for New Book In-Reply-To: <200402070043.i170hYO01085@panix2.panix.com> Message-ID: On Fri, 6 Feb 2004, B. E. G. wrote: > David Fetter wrote: > > Top Excel Annoyance: I can't buy a Linux version :) > > Spreadsheet::ParseExcel has worked well for me (reading and writing), > no fancy GUI or anything, but who needs one of those? :^) > > Benjamin While not very perlish, there's always gnumeric, which is an excellent (and surprisingly complete!) spreadsheet prog / Excel clone. --Craig From david at fetter.org Fri Feb 6 18:51:35 2004 From: david at fetter.org (David Fetter) Date: Mon Aug 2 21:33:37 2004 Subject: [oak perl] Fwd: Excel Annoyances Needed for New Book In-Reply-To: <200402061658.46603.george@metaart.org> References: <200402061539.51353.george@metaart.org> <20040207003552.GC4774@fetter.org> <200402061658.46603.george@metaart.org> Message-ID: <20040207005135.GE4774@fetter.org> On Fri, Feb 06, 2004 at 04:58:46PM -0800, George Woolley wrote: > OK. I'll play straight man. That is *so* not my business either way ;) > What would you be willing to pay for a Linux version? What I paid for the Mac version. I think the whole Office package was a couple of hundred bucks. Can dig out receipts, if needed. Cheers, D -- David Fetter david@fetter.org http://fetter.org/ phone: +1 510 893 6100 cell: +1 415 235 3778 From david at fetter.org Fri Feb 6 18:53:50 2004 From: david at fetter.org (David Fetter) Date: Mon Aug 2 21:33:37 2004 Subject: [oak perl] Fwd: Excel Annoyances Needed for New Book In-Reply-To: References: <200402070043.i170hYO01085@panix2.panix.com> Message-ID: <20040207005350.GF4774@fetter.org> On Fri, Feb 06, 2004 at 04:50:29PM -0800, Craig McLaughlin wrote: > > > On Fri, 6 Feb 2004, B. E. G. wrote: > > David Fetter wrote: > > > Top Excel Annoyance: I can't buy a Linux version :) > > > > Spreadsheet::ParseExcel has worked well for me (reading and > > writing), no fancy GUI or anything, but who needs one of those? > > :^) > > > > Benjamin > > While not very perlish, there's always gnumeric, which is an > excellent (and surprisingly complete!) spreadsheet prog / Excel > clone. I have OpenOffice. I have gnumeric. And when I get an Excel spreadsheet, I have to fire up my Mac to do anything useful with it. Cheers, D -- David Fetter david@fetter.org http://fetter.org/ phone: +1 510 893 6100 cell: +1 415 235 3778 From george at metaart.org Fri Feb 6 19:08:05 2004 From: george at metaart.org (George Woolley) Date: Mon Aug 2 21:33:37 2004 Subject: [oak perl] Fwd: Excel Annoyances Needed for New Book In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <200402061708.05140.george@metaart.org> On Friday 06 February 2004 4:50 pm, Craig McLaughlin wrote: > On Fri, 6 Feb 2004, B. E. G. wrote: > > David Fetter wrote: > > > Top Excel Annoyance: I can't buy a Linux version :) > > > > Spreadsheet::ParseExcel has worked well for me (reading and writing), > > no fancy GUI or anything, but who needs one of those? :^) > > > > Benjamin > > While not very perlish, there's always gnumeric, which is an excellent > (and surprisingly complete!) spreadsheet prog / Excel clone. > > --Craig That's what I use and I'm happy with it, but my needs in this area are quite modest. -- George From george at metaart.org Fri Feb 6 19:22:32 2004 From: george at metaart.org (George Woolley) Date: Mon Aug 2 21:33:37 2004 Subject: [oak perl] Fwd: Excel Annoyances Needed for New Book In-Reply-To: <20040207005135.GE4774@fetter.org> References: <200402061539.51353.george@metaart.org> <200402061658.46603.george@metaart.org> <20040207005135.GE4774@fetter.org> Message-ID: <200402061722.32919.george@metaart.org> On Friday 06 February 2004 4:51 pm, David Fetter wrote: > On Fri, Feb 06, 2004 at 04:58:46PM -0800, George Woolley wrote: > > OK. I'll play straight man. > > That is *so* not my business either way ;) > > > What would you be willing to pay for a Linux version? > > What I paid for the Mac version. I think the whole Office package was > a couple of hundred bucks. Can dig out receipts, if needed. > > Cheers, > D No need to dig out receipts. That's actually quite informative without the exact amount. I was wrongly expecting someone would say $0.00. George From cpm at bitbucket.com Fri Feb 6 19:23:00 2004 From: cpm at bitbucket.com (Craig McLaughlin) Date: Mon Aug 2 21:33:37 2004 Subject: [oak perl] Fwd: Excel Annoyances Needed for New Book In-Reply-To: <200402061708.05140.george@metaart.org> Message-ID: On Fri, 6 Feb 2004, George Woolley wrote: > > While not very perlish, there's always gnumeric, which is an excellent > > (and surprisingly complete!) spreadsheet prog / Excel clone. > > > > --Craig > > That's what I use and I'm happy with it, > but my needs in this area are quite modest. > > -- George As are mine. And I should have added that when they are not (when I'm having to muck with a client's sheet, for example), I run Excel / Office 2k under Codeweavers' Crossover Office. If you already have a license for a windows version hanging around, pick up Crossover. $59.95 for the download version, +$10 if you make them ship you a disc. --Craig From david at fetter.org Fri Feb 6 19:28:36 2004 From: david at fetter.org (David Fetter) Date: Mon Aug 2 21:33:37 2004 Subject: [oak perl] Fwd: Excel Annoyances Needed for New Book In-Reply-To: References: <200402061708.05140.george@metaart.org> Message-ID: <20040207012836.GG4774@fetter.org> On Fri, Feb 06, 2004 at 05:23:00PM -0800, Craig McLaughlin wrote: > > On Fri, 6 Feb 2004, George Woolley wrote: > > > While not very perlish, there's always gnumeric, which is an excellent > > > (and surprisingly complete!) spreadsheet prog / Excel clone. > > > > > > --Craig > > > > That's what I use and I'm happy with it, but my needs in this area > > are quite modest. > > > > -- George > > As are mine. And I should have added that when they are not (when > I'm having to muck with a client's sheet, for example), I run Excel > / Office 2k under Codeweavers' Crossover Office. > > If you already have a license for a windows version hanging around, > pick up Crossover. $59.95 for the download version, +$10 if you > make them ship you a disc. Crossover's handy :) Cheers, D -- David Fetter david@fetter.org http://fetter.org/ phone: +1 510 893 6100 cell: +1 415 235 3778 From george at metaart.org Sat Feb 7 18:16:13 2004 From: george at metaart.org (George Woolley) Date: Mon Aug 2 21:33:38 2004 Subject: [oak perl] Writing Word Macro Viruses Message-ID: <200402071616.13761.george@metaart.org> Based on the large number of posts on the thread [oak perl] Fwd: Excel Annoyances Needed for New Book I'm thinking there's way more interest here in office apps than I was aware of. And one person actually did send an Excel annoyance to Marsee. With Excel and Word come viruses. So, who knows, some of you may be interested in: http://bofhcam.org/co-larters/ Potential Reviewers: Be advised: * Our group has no arrangement for getting review copies from O'Really.com**. * Since the book doesn't actually exist (so far as I know), it may be really hard to get a review copy. However, IMO the cover image is way kool. George ** We do, however, have an arrangement with O'Reilly. So far, no request I've made for a review copy has been turned down. This includes recently when I requested a second review copy of "Mastering Regular Expressions". From george at metaart.org Mon Feb 9 23:25:08 2004 From: george at metaart.org (George Woolley) Date: Mon Aug 2 21:33:38 2004 Subject: [oak perl] Oakland.pm Meeting - Tuesday Message-ID: <200402092125.08691.george@metaart.org> Tuesday (i.e. tomorrow) we're having our monthly meeting. The Theme is Alternatives to Regex. Snip of February Meeting Announcement from our website http://oakland.pm.org/index.html .................................................. when: Tue. Feb. 10 at 7:30-9:30pm. (We meet 2nd Tuesdays.) where: Joshua Wait's place 1903 Virginia Street Apt. 3 Berkeley, CA 94709 directions: [link to] Joshua's pdf map and directions [link to] George's directions and ascii map theme: Alternatives to Regex what: introductions giveaways short talks and discussion [link to] March Meeting [announcement] who: open to anyone interested. how much: no fee for our meetings. From oaklandpm at eli.users.panix.com Tue Feb 10 14:35:40 2004 From: oaklandpm at eli.users.panix.com (B.E.G) Date: Mon Aug 2 21:33:38 2004 Subject: [oak perl] Oakland.pm Meeting - Tuesday Message-ID: <200402102035.i1AKZeg01393@panix2.panix.com> I'll be late to today's meeting, but if you want to take a look at what I have for the regexp avoidance thing, try this page: http://www.panix.com/~eli/perl/noregexp.html There are probably typos in that, if you see any, feel free to write back with them. Elijah From blyman at iii.com Tue Feb 10 17:06:34 2004 From: blyman at iii.com (Belden Lyman) Date: Mon Aug 2 21:33:38 2004 Subject: [oak perl] Oakland.pm Meeting - Tuesday In-Reply-To: <200402102035.i1AKZeg01393@panix2.panix.com> References: <200402102035.i1AKZeg01393@panix2.panix.com> Message-ID: <402963FA.8040806@iii.com> B.E.G wrote: > I'll be late to today's meeting, but if you want to take a look > at what I have for the regexp avoidance thing, try this page: > > http://www.panix.com/~eli/perl/noregexp.html I won't be able to come to tonight's meeting, so thanks for the link. Two observations: First: You use the phrase "avoiding regular expressions" to mean two different things. This is confusing. In the first sense, you show an example of replacing a regexy parser with an indexy parser. You indicate that the newer code loops far fewer times- implying a gain in efficiency (which I don't doubt since I've seen similar improvements myself when refactoring code). "Aha", I think to myself. "`Avoiding regular expressions` means `not using regular expressions`." In the second sense, you show a delimited text example. Rather than using a regex attributed to Friedl, you suggest using Text::ParseWords. But Text::ParseWords uses regular expressions underneath. So does Text::Balanced. "Aha", I think to myself. "`Avoiding regular expressions` means `not writing regular expressions- getting them from somewhere else for free`." So... what do you mean by `Avoiding regular expressions`? And to what end- efficiency, as in the first case? Maintainability, as in the second case? ==== Second observation :) "Note also that the balanced parentheses requirement here (for function calls as arguments) means regexps cannot do this." Regular expressions can do this. perlre.pod shows how to use the experimental C<(??{ code })> feature + C to match nested parens; ``perldoc perlre'' to see how this works. If I were explaining this to someone, I'd probably say, "Yes, regular expressions can do this, but the trick to making them do so relies on an experimental feature which isn't guaranteed to exist in past or future versions of Perl; sometimes this is a concern for people [but for me it is no longer as big a concern as it once was]. Plus the trick is just that: a trick, which means that whoever needs to maintain your code needs to either know the trick or figure it out- do you want to do that to whoever comes looking at your code next (possibly you in 3 months!)? The easier way to do this is to use Text::Balanced or Text::ParseWords- it's easier on you when writing the code, it's easier on whoever needs to read it, and it's easier to maintain." Anyway, I assume you didn't know about this, otherwise you probably would have written something like the above instead of "regexps cannot do this"? ==== FWIW, the reliance on an experimental feature C<(??{ code })> to match nested parens is not why I would eschew the trick mentioned above. Though functional, I think it's unmaintainable- so I'd use either T::P or T::B. Avoiding experimental features simply because they may be removed in the future can hamper one's ability as a programmer to get the job done. > > There are probably typos in that, if you see any, feel free to > write back with them. See, I took that as a blank check to write back with whatever ramblings happened to pass through my mind. :) $0.01 Belden From george at metaart.org Tue Feb 10 17:30:42 2004 From: george at metaart.org (George Woolley) Date: Mon Aug 2 21:33:38 2004 Subject: [oak perl] Oakland.pm Meeting - Tuesday In-Reply-To: <200402102035.i1AKZeg01393@panix2.panix.com> References: <200402102035.i1AKZeg01393@panix2.panix.com> Message-ID: <200402101530.42997.george@metaart.org> Elijah, Thanks for creating this page on "When Not to Use Regexps" and posting the URL. George All, Elijah gives three interesting examples of where not to use regular expressions. We'll get to talk about these at the meeting tonight. See some of you tonight at Josh's place. George On Tuesday 10 February 2004 12:35 pm, B.E.G wrote: > I'll be late to today's meeting, but if you want to take a look > at what I have for the regexp avoidance thing, try this page: > > http://www.panix.com/~eli/perl/noregexp.html > > There are probably typos in that, if you see any, feel free to > write back with them. > > Elijah From george at metaart.org Tue Feb 10 17:59:51 2004 From: george at metaart.org (George Woolley) Date: Mon Aug 2 21:33:38 2004 Subject: [oak perl] Oakland.pm Meeting - Tuesday In-Reply-To: <402963FA.8040806@iii.com> References: <200402102035.i1AKZeg01393@panix2.panix.com> <402963FA.8040806@iii.com> Message-ID: <200402101559.51741.george@metaart.org> Belden, One of the reasons I was glad Elijah provided the URL was because I was hoping you'd get a chance to see what he wrote. I was even hoping you'd comment. However, it hadn't occurred to me you'd be so quick. Now, we'll talk about your comments at the meeting too. Thanks! George On Tuesday 10 February 2004 3:06 pm, Belden Lyman wrote: > B.E.G wrote: > > I'll be late to today's meeting, but if you want to take a look > > at what I have for the regexp avoidance thing, try this page: > > > > http://www.panix.com/~eli/perl/noregexp.html > > I won't be able to come to tonight's meeting, so thanks for the link. > > Two observations: > > First: You use the phrase "avoiding regular expressions" to mean two > different things. This is confusing. > > In the first sense, you show an example of replacing a regexy parser > with an indexy parser. You indicate that the newer code loops far > fewer times- implying a gain in efficiency (which I don't doubt since > I've seen similar improvements myself when refactoring code). > > "Aha", I think to myself. "`Avoiding regular expressions` means > `not using regular expressions`." > > In the second sense, you show a delimited text example. Rather than > using a regex attributed to Friedl, you suggest using Text::ParseWords. > But Text::ParseWords uses regular expressions underneath. So does > Text::Balanced. > > "Aha", I think to myself. "`Avoiding regular expressions` means > `not writing regular expressions- getting them from somewhere else > for free`." > > So... what do you mean by `Avoiding regular expressions`? And to what > end- efficiency, as in the first case? Maintainability, as in the > second case? > > ==== > > Second observation :) > > "Note also that the balanced parentheses requirement here (for > function calls as arguments) means regexps cannot do this." > > Regular expressions can do this. perlre.pod shows how to use the > experimental C<(??{ code })> feature + C to match nested parens; > ``perldoc perlre'' to see how this works. > > If I were explaining this to someone, I'd probably say, "Yes, regular > expressions can do this, but the trick to making them do so relies on an > experimental feature which isn't guaranteed to exist in past or future > versions of Perl; sometimes this is a concern for people [but for me it > is no longer as big a concern as it once was]. Plus the trick is just > that: a trick, which means that whoever needs to maintain your code > needs to either know the trick or figure it out- do you want to do that > to whoever comes looking at your code next (possibly you in 3 months!)? > The easier way to do this is to use Text::Balanced or Text::ParseWords- > it's easier on you when writing the code, it's easier on whoever needs > to read it, and it's easier to maintain." > > Anyway, I assume you didn't know about this, otherwise you probably > would have written something like the above instead of "regexps cannot > do this"? > > ==== > > FWIW, the reliance on an experimental feature C<(??{ code })> to match > nested parens is not why I would eschew the trick mentioned above. > Though functional, I think it's unmaintainable- so I'd use either T::P > or T::B. > > Avoiding experimental features simply because they may be removed in the > future can hamper one's ability as a programmer to get the job done. > > > There are probably typos in that, if you see any, feel free to > > write back with them. > > See, I took that as a blank check to write back with whatever ramblings > happened to pass through my mind. :) > > $0.01 > Belden > > _______________________________________________ > Oakland mailing list > Oakland@mail.pm.org > http://mail.pm.org/mailman/listinfo/oakland From oaklandpm at eli.users.panix.com Tue Feb 10 18:50:56 2004 From: oaklandpm at eli.users.panix.com (B.E.G.) Date: Mon Aug 2 21:33:38 2004 Subject: [oak perl] Oakland.pm Meeting - Tuesday Message-ID: <200402110050.i1B0ouH20785@panix2.panix.com> Belden responds to me: > First: You use the phrase "avoiding regular expressions" to mean two > different things. This is confusing. There are three things in three examples: 1) Don't use regexps when you can do it faster another way. 2) Don't use regexps when it is too complicated to get right the first time but another method is right there. 3) Don't use regexps for things they cannot do. > In the second sense, you show a delimited text example. Rather than > using a regex attributed to Friedl, you suggest using Text::ParseWords. > But Text::ParseWords uses regular expressions underneath. So does > Text::Balanced. Ah, but I didn't concern myself with what it underneath. It could be written as a byte a time state machine. That is both the beauty and danger of modules. I say "danger" because in some cases the modules do so much under the hood, you might want to avoid them altogether. Such was the case with CGI.pm before the CGI::Lite incarnation, at least for me. > "Note also that the balanced parentheses requirement here (for > function calls as arguments) means regexps cannot do this." > > Regular expressions can do this. perlre.pod shows how to use the > experimental C<(??{ code })> feature + C to match nested parens; > ``perldoc perlre'' to see how this works. I remember it from this exchange: http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=67mra9%24fm1%241%40agate.berkeley.edu I meant to mention it, but forgot. That is a parlor trick, and not useful in real world use. (Besides Perl's "regular expressions" do not meet the standard mathematical definition of a "regular expression", my statement is true for the mathematical definition.) > See, I took that as a blank check to write back with whatever ramblings > happened to pass through my mind. :) Fair enough. Elijah From george at metaart.org Wed Feb 11 15:02:31 2004 From: george at metaart.org (George Woolley) Date: Mon Aug 2 21:33:38 2004 Subject: [oak perl] March Oakland.pm Meeting Announcement Message-ID: <200402111302.31810.george@metaart.org> Snip from home page of Oakland.pm http://oakland.pm.org/ ........................................................... when: Tue. March 9 at 7:30-9:30pm. (We meet 2nd Tuesdays.) where: Joshua Wait's place 1903 Virginia Street Apt. 3 Berkeley, CA 94709 directions: [Joshua's pdf map and directions] [George's directions and ascii map] what: introductions giveaways talk (see below) talk: talk by author Tony Stubblebine entitled "Regular Expression Best Practices" similar to his article [5 Habits for Successful Regex] See author's [blurb] on talk who: open to anyone interested. how much: no fee for our meetings. Note: [ ... ] indicates that ... is a link you can follow from our home page From jseidel at edpci.com Thu Feb 12 11:33:19 2004 From: jseidel at edpci.com (Jon Seidel, CMC) Date: Mon Aug 2 21:33:38 2004 Subject: [oak perl] more regular.expressions Message-ID: <00a501c3f194$c40854c0$6200000a@edpci.com> I really enjoyed Elijah's presentation yesterday -- well organized and exampled. I was intrigued by the reference to RE's being around in mathematics before unix commandeered them so I looked around the web briefly. I found these two tidbits; 1) The document www2.cs.utep.edu/~cs3350/CS3350Lecture2.ppt is part of a CompSci course, and discusses RE's in mathematics. Since I'm not a math or CS major, it's a little dense, but interesting nonetheless. 2) One of the unix dictionaries gives the following definition: GREP Global Regular Expression Print which I hadn't seen before. ...jon -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Connecting Business and Technology Since 1979 Jon E. Seidel, CMC +1-510-530-6314 EDP Consulting, Inc. www.edpci.com The Certified Management Consultant (CMC) mark is awarded to consultants who meet the strict standards defined by the Institute of Management Consultants USA, including examination by their peers, client evaluations, and a written examination evidencing their understanding of the IMC USA's Code of Ethics. See www.imcusa.org/cmc.acgi for more information. ||||| View our newsletter at www.edpci.com/resources_newsletter.html ||||| From oaklandpm at eli.users.panix.com Thu Feb 12 18:58:57 2004 From: oaklandpm at eli.users.panix.com (B.E.G.) Date: Mon Aug 2 21:33:38 2004 Subject: [oak perl] more regular.expressions In-Reply-To: <00a501c3f194$c40854c0$6200000a@edpci.com> Message-ID: <200402130058.i1D0wv728985@panix2.panix.com> Jon Seidel wrote: > I really enjoyed Elijah's presentation yesterday -- well organized and > exampled. I was intrigued by the reference to RE's being around in > mathematics before unix commandeered them so I looked around the web Really old programmer text editors have them as well. Example: TECO, which still exists today. Source for TECO clones exists at least. And TECO has basic regexps, but the syntax is a bit different from the current form. (This is partially because everything in TECO is different from how modern software works.) Trivia: Emacs started as a macro set for TECO; it is a highly programmable editor. > briefly. I found these two tidbits; > 1) The document www2.cs.utep.edu/~cs3350/CS3350Lecture2.ppt is part of a > CompSci course, and discusses RE's in mathematics. Since I'm not a math or > CS major, it's a little dense, but interesting nonetheless. You might find more results if you use the word "automata" along with other terms in your searches. Here's a page I found searching for "finite automata": http://www.ics.uci.edu/~eppstein/161/960222.html _MRE_ first ed has a bit of automata background, second ed probably does, too. > 2) One of the unix dictionaries gives the following definition: > GREP Global Regular Expression Print > which I hadn't seen before. That comes from ed (and ex) where "g" starts a "global" (operate on every line) command, if then followed by a /regexp/ and a "p" it would print the lines that matched the regexp. (But you can also copy the the line, move the lines, delete the lines, etc.) I'm sure any Unix you have access to has "ed" installed, try it out. $ ed /etc/passwd 2533 g/root/p root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash operator:x:11:0:operator:/root:/sbin/nologin q $ Elijah ------ ed will be installed because, pre-perl, it was used script editing files From extasia at extasia.org Mon Feb 16 19:07:24 2004 From: extasia at extasia.org (David Alban) Date: Mon Aug 2 21:33:38 2004 Subject: [oak perl] SIG-BEER-WEST this Saturday 2/21 in San Francisco Message-ID: <20040216170724.A11363@gerasimov.net> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 SIG-beer-west Saturday, February 21, 2004 at 6:00pm San Francisco, CA http://extasia.org/sig-beer-west/ Beer. Mental stimulation. sig-beer-west is two years old this month. Happy Birthday sig-beer-west! This event: Saturday, 02/21/2004, 6:00pm, at Thirsty Bear Brewing Company, San Francisco directions: http://www.thirstybear.com/Directions.html beer: http://www.thirstybear.com/Beers.html food: http://www.thirstybear.com/Dinner.html Coming events (third Saturdays): Saturday, 03/20/2004, 6:00pm, location to be determined Saturday, 04/17/2004, 6:00pm, location to be determined Saturday, 05/15/2004, 6:00pm, location to be determined Saturday, 06/19/2004, 6:00pm, location to be determined San Francisco's next social event for techies and their friends, sig-beer-west, will take place at 6:00pm on Saturday, February 21, 2004 at Thirsty Bear Brewing Company[1] in San Francisco, CA. [1] http://www.thirstybear.com/ About the Thirsty Bear: Celebrator Beer News[2] says: Thirsty Bear takes its name from the headline of a 1991 news article that founder, co-owner and brewmaster Ron Silberstein, then a San Francisco attorney, spied in a local paper: "Thirsty Bear Bites Man for Cold Beer." It seems an escaped circus bear wandered into a neighborhood pub somewhere in the Ukraine, snatched a man's beer from him, drank a few glasses, then fell happily into a nap. The bitten pub patron, Victor Kozlov, earned his own beer at the new Thirsty Bear -- Kozlov Stout. [...] The beers are distinctively American, simple, classic styles modeled after the greats from England, Ireland, Belgium and the Czech Republic. [2] http://celebrator.com/9610/Freccia-ThirstyBear1096.html OpenTable.com[3] says: Spanish dishes with Catalan specialties are served alongside pints of house-brewed ales, lagers, and stouts. [3] http://www.opentable.com/restaurant_profile.asp?ID=2 wGuides.com[4] says: From the outside, this brew-pub has the look and size of a warehouse. The interior, however, has been designed with comfort in mind. Tables and stools offer plenty of room to relax, while pool and darts are available if you feel more energetic. The cuisine here is a fabulous mix of Spanish, Basque, and Catalan dishes which make for an exotic feast. They go perfectly with a spicy pint of dark ale. [4] http://www.wguides.com/city/39/128_8124.cfm I can personally vouch for the Kozlov Stout and the (seasonal) Winter Bock. And the tapas. Oh my goodness, the tapas... Festivities will start at 6:00pm and continue until we've all left. Directions to Thirsty Bear can be found on their directions page.[5] They're a ten minute walk from the Montgomery BART station. [5] http://www.thirstybear.com/Directions.html When you show up, you should look for some kind of home made sig-beer-west sign. We will try to make it obvious who we are. :-) Note: Please look for the sig-beer-west sign, not for a particular person. sig-beer-west may have different hosts from month to month. Everyone is welcome at this event. We mean it! Please feel free to forward this information and to invite friends, co-workers, and others (all of legal drinking age) who might enjoy lifting a glass with interesting folks from all over the place. Can't come this month? Mark your calendar for next month. (Do it now before you forget!) sig-beer-west occurs on the third Saturday of the month. Any questions, comments, suggestions of things to do later on that evening, or new venue suggestions ... email the current sig-beer-west Instigator. The Instigator's Username is extasia. The Instigator's email address is the Username at the Username dot org. sig-beer-west FAQ 1. Q: Your announcement says "techies and their friends". How do I know if I'm a techie, or a friend of one? A: Well, actually, you don't have to be a techie to attend. You just have to be able to find the sig-beer-west sign at this month's event. That's it. Simple, huh? 2. Q: I'm not really a beer person. In fact I'm interested in hanging out, but not in drinking. Would I be welcome? A: Absolutely! The point is to hang out with fun, interesting folks. Please do join us. 3. Q: Is parking difficult in the city, like maybe I should factor this into my travel time? A: Yes. (Note for February 2004: Thirsty Bear is a ten minute walk from Montgomery BART. You may want to consider BARTing[6] and not worrying about parking. [6] http://www.bart.gov/ ______________________________________________________________________ sig-beer-west was started in February 2002 when a couple Washington, D.C. based systems administrators who moved to the San Francisco Bay area wanted to continue a dc-sage[7] tradition, sig-beer, which is described in dc-sage web space as: SIG-beer, as in "Special Interest Group - Beer" ala ACM, or as in "send the BEER signal to that process". The original SIG-beer gathering takes place in Washington DC, usually on the first Saturday night of the month. [7] http://www.dc-sage.org/ ______________________________________________________________________ -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.2.3 (GNU/Linux) iD8DBQFAMWfWPh0M9c/OpdARAqSwAJ9EA+bo29ls+5TYfidc/fOqngTMtACgrVWL zV8yu4rwRKUz0VHDuYBSfXE= =Qyod -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- From george at metaart.org Tue Feb 17 02:00:41 2004 From: george at metaart.org (George Woolley) Date: Mon Aug 2 21:33:38 2004 Subject: [oak perl] Tony Stubblebine Talk - questions? In-Reply-To: <402963FA.8040806@iii.com> References: <200402102035.i1AKZeg01393@panix2.panix.com> <402963FA.8040806@iii.com> Message-ID: <200402170000.41681.george@metaart.org> Belden, My understanding is that it's quite unlikely that you'll be able to come to the March meeting at which Tony Stubblebine will be talking. But perhaps you have a question or questions that I could convey to him? George From george at metaart.org Tue Feb 17 02:22:20 2004 From: george at metaart.org (George Woolley) Date: Mon Aug 2 21:33:38 2004 Subject: [oak perl] Tony Stubblebine Talk - questions? In-Reply-To: <200402170000.41681.george@metaart.org> References: <200402102035.i1AKZeg01393@panix2.panix.com> <402963FA.8040806@iii.com> <200402170000.41681.george@metaart.org> Message-ID: <200402170022.20607.george@metaart.org> On Tuesday 17 February 2004 12:00 am, George Woolley wrote: > Belden, > My understanding is that it's quite unlikely > that you'll be able to come to the March meeting > at which Tony Stubblebine will be talking. > But perhaps you have a question or questions > that I could convey to him? > George Belden and All, Ooops, I meant to send that off-list. Well, actually, I'd like to ask everyone. So, everyone: do you have any questions you wish me to convey to Tony Stubblebine, our March speaker? George From george at metaart.org Sat Feb 21 13:05:30 2004 From: george at metaart.org (George Woolley) Date: Mon Aug 2 21:33:38 2004 Subject: [oak perl] Fwd: Newsletter from O'Reilly UG Program, February 20 Message-ID: <200402211105.30120.george@metaart.org> OK, I'd like to call your attention to two items in this newsletter that involve our group: (1) ***Tony Stubblebine ("Regular Expression Pocket Reference"), Oakland, CA--March 9 Tony will explain how to decrease development time while increasing reliability and readability of regular expressions. March 9, 7:30-9:30pm For more information, go to: http://oakland.pm.org/ [I'm wishing and working for a good turn out.] (2) ***Check out the new O'Reilly User Group Wiki for the latest news You can look for a meeting, user group, or post information any time you want. http://wiki.oreillynet.com/usergroups/view?HomePage [I put stuff under UGList, UGEvents, UGNeeds, UGProjects and FunStuff.] [Enjoy.] ---------- Forwarded Message ---------- Subject: Newsletter from O'Reilly UG Program, February 20 Date: Friday 20 February 2004 5:34 pm From: Marsee Henon To: george@metaart.org ... ================================================================ O'Reilly News for User Group Members February 20, 2004 ================================================================ ---------------------------------------------------------------- Book News ---------------------------------------------------------------- -Linux Pocket Guide -Ethereal Packet Sniffing -Getting Started with LEGO Trains -iPod & iTunes: The Missing Manual -Check Point Next Generation with Application Intelligence Security Administration -Hardware Hacking: Have Fun While Voiding Your Warranty -Oracle Essentials, 3rd Edition: Oracle Database 10g -Squid: The Definitive Guide ---------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming Events ---------------------------------------------------------------- -Tony Stubblebine ("Regular Expression Pocket Reference"), Oakland, CA--March 9 -Mac User Group Day at O'Reilly in Sebastopol, CA--April 24 ---------------------------------------------------------------- Conferences ---------------------------------------------------------------- -O'Reilly's Digital Democracy Teach-In a Success -Annotating Everything: Marc A. Smith at ETech ---------------------------------------------------------------- News ---------------------------------------------------------------- -Happy Hacking! -Finalists for the 2004 Jolt Awards -Safari Gets Bigger and Better -Things Squid Administrators Should Know -A Ticketing System for a Three-Tiered Architecture -Home Automation with Mac OS X, Part 1 -Automated Backups with Existing Tools -Protect Yourself Against Denial-of-Service Attacks -Book Preview: Eclipse -Six Cool New JSP and Servlet Features -O'Reilly Network Is SXSW Web Awards Finalist -Cooking with C# -ADO.NET Connection Pooling Explained ---------------------------------------------------------------- News From Your Peers ---------------------------------------------------------------- Check out the new O'Reilly User Group Wiki for the latest news ================================================ 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, 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 ---------------------------------------------------------------- ***Linux Pocket Guide Publisher: O'Reilly ISBN: 0-596-00628-4 "Linux Pocket Guide" gets you up to speed quickly on day-to-day Linux use. The book begins with general concepts like files and directories, the shell, and X windows, and then presents detailed overviews of the most essential commands. You'll learn each command's purpose, usage, options, location on disk, and even the RPM package that installed it. Throw in a host of valuable power user tips and a friendly, accessible style, and you'll find this practical, to-the-point book a small but mighty resource for Linux users. http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/linuxpg/ Sample excerpts are available online: http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/linuxpg/chapter/index.html. ***Ethereal Packet Sniffing Publisher: Syngress ISBN: 1-932266-82-8 "Ethereal Packet Sniffing" is the first book available on Ethereal, the premier open source protocol analyzer for Windows and Unix. Ethereal offers more protocol decoding and reassembly than any free sniffer out there, and this book will show you how to make the most of it. You'll learn how to use Tethereal, the command-line version of Ethereal; install and build Ethereal from source; pinpoint network problems using filters to manage network operations and traffic; import and export files between Ethereal and various compatible products; and so much more. http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/1932266828/ ***Getting Started with LEGO Trains Publisher: No Starch Press ISBN: 1593270062 Learn to build LEGO Trains, from setting up train tracks to building custom freight cars. Jacob H. McKee, an authority on LEGO Trains, teaches basic building techniques and shares some of his most fascinating and original train designs. You'll learn how to build a North American-style locomotive, a 1940's refrigerator car, and an intermodal container car, plus you'll gain the skills to create your own designs. Four color throughout. http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/1593270062/ ***iPod & iTunes: The Missing Manual Publisher: O'Reilly ISBN: 0-596-00658-6 iTunes and the iTunes music store aren't just for Mac fans anymore. Anyone running Windows XP or 2000 can now cash in on all the capabilities of this music store jukebox. Our new version of "iPod & iTunes: The Missing Manual" has been thoroughly updated to reflect these changes. No matter what kind of music moves you, this book will help you get much more out of your iPod--and much more into it. http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/ipodtmm2/ ***Check Point Next Generation with Application Intelligence Security Administration Publisher: Syngress ISBN: 1-932266-89-5 >From the authors of Syngress's best-selling "Check Point NG Security Administration" comes the definitive work on Check Point's latest product release: Check Point NG Feature Pack 4. No competing book covers every product contained within FP 4 (SMART, SecurePlatform, SecureXL, ClusterXL, and Performance Pack). Although not a study guide, this book will cover all objectives on Check Point's CCSA exam and a free exam simulator will be available from syngress.com http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/1932266895/ ***Hardware Hacking: Have Fun While Voiding Your Warranty Publisher: Syngress ISBN: 1932266836 "Hardware Hacking" is for people who dream of running Linux on an Xbox and opening a garage door with a PDA. To successfully hack consumer and SOHO electronic devices, you need knowledge of electrical engineering, operating systems, software coding, and mechanics; the first part of this book is a primer on these topics. Then the real fun begins. You'll learn how to hack mobile devices (PDAs, cell phones), gaming systems (Xbox, PS/2, Atari), audio/visual equipment (TiVo boxes, home theater PCs), computer equipment (iMacs, laptops, mini-motherboards), and much more. http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/1932266836/ ***Oracle Essentials, 3rd Edition: Oracle Database 10g Publisher: O'Reilly ISBN: 0-596-00585-7 "Oracle Essentials, 3rd Edition: Oracle Database 10g" distills a vast amount of knowledge into an easy-to-read volume. The new edition of this classic book covers the full range of Oracle's features and technologies, including the product line, architecture, data structures, networking, concurrency, and tuning. With a new overview of Oracle 10g, as well as coverage of recent releases 9i and 8i, this book provides everything you need to install and run Oracle databases. If you're new to Oracle or upgrading to Oracle 10g, you'll find this comprehensive guide essential. http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/oressentials3/ Chapter 1, "Introducing Oracle," is available online: http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/oressentials3/chapter/index.html ***Squid: The Definitive Guide Publisher: O'Reilly ISBN: 0596001622 Squid is the most popular web caching software in use today, and it works on a variety of platforms including Linux, FreeBSD, and Windows. Written by Duane Wessels, the creator of Squid, this book will help you configure and tune Squid for your particular situation. Newcomers to Squid will learn how to download, compile, and install code. Seasoned users will be able to dive into advanced topics such as high-performance storage options, rewriting requests, HTTP server acceleration, monitoring, debugging, and troubleshooting Squid. http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/squid/ Chapter 8, "Advanced Disk Cache Topics," is available online. http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/squid/chapter/index.html ================================================ Upcoming Events ================================================ ***For more events, please see: http://events.oreilly.com/ ***Tony Stubblebine ("Regular Expression Pocket Reference"), Oakland, CA--March 9 Tony will explain how to decrease development time while increasing reliability and readability of regular expressions. March 9, 7:30-9:30pm For more information, go to: http://oakland.pm.org/ ***Mac User Group Day at O'Reilly in Sebastopol, CA--April 24 Join O'Reilly and NCMUG for a special Mac User Group Day in Sebastopol, California on Saturday, April 24 from 2-6pm. Speakers include Derrick Story ("Digital Photography Pocket Guide, 2nd Edition," "iPhoto 2: The Missing Manual"), Chris Stone ("Mac OS X Panther in a Nutshell"), Tom Negrino & Dori Smith ("Mac OS X Unwired"), and Scott Fullam ("Hardware Hacking Projects for Geeks"). For more information and a complete schedule of events, go to: http://ug.oreilly.com/banners/macugday_hi_res.pdf Please RSVP to let us know you will be attending at mugevent@oreilly.com. Mac User Group Day 2:00pm-6:00pm, Saturday, April 24 O'Reilly 1005 Gravenstein Hwy North Sebastopol, CA 95472 800-998-9938 Ext. 7103 For directions, go to: http://www.oreilly.com/oreilly/seb_directions.html ================================================ Conference News ================================================ ***O'Reilly's Digital Democracy Teach-In This year's O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference began with an impressive set of tutorials. But you also had the option to spend the first day of the conference at the Digital Democracy Teach-In, learning how to take back control of a different sort of operating system. Daniel Steinberg reports on sessions by Joe Trippi, former campaign manager for Howard Dean; Wes Boyd, co-founder of MoveOn.org; Scott Heiferman, co-founder and CEO of Meetup.com; and many more. http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/network/2004/02/10/digdemo.html ***Annotating Everything: Marc A. Smith at ETech Daniel Steinberg reports from O'Reilly's Emerging Technology Conference with an in-depth look at Marc A. Smith's session "Catalyzing Collective Action on the Net." Marc demonstrated several tools that show promise as ways to enhance online communities. http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/network/2004/02/11/etech_keynotes.html Find complete news coverage, the conference wiki, weblogs, photos, and much more on O'Reilly Network's ETech 2004 Conference Coverage page: http://www.oreillynet.com/et2004/ ================================================ News From O'Reilly & Beyond ================================================ --------------------- General News --------------------- ***Happy Hacking! Mike Langberg writes, "Most of us look at a toaster and see a kitchen appliance for crisping bread. Scott Fullam looks at a toaster and sees an engineering challenge...," in this "Mercury News" book review of "Hardware Hacking Projects for Geeks." http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/technology/7889687.htm Hardware Hacking Projects for Geeks ISBN: 0596003145 http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/hardwarehks/ ***Finalists for the 2004 Jolt Awards Software Development magazine recently announced the finalists for the 14th annual Jolt Product Excellence and Productivity Awards. Among the finalists are java.net and the O'Reilly Network in the category of "Websites and Developer Networks," and Head First Java and Programming .NET Windows Applications in the "Books--Technical" category. The awards ceremony will take place on March 17 during SD West 2004. http://sdmagazine.com/jolts/ ***Safari Gets Bigger and Better Safari Bookshelf, the premier electronic reference library for IT professionals and programmers, now holds more than 2,000 books from the industry's leading technical publishers. As the library grows, so does its functionality: searches are powerfully precise and as broad or specific as you wish. And now, with a Safari Max subscription, you can download chapters to read offline. Safari will help you save time, reduce errors, keep current, and save more money than ever with up to 35% off print copies of your favorite books. If you haven't yet gone on Safari, get a free trial subscription. https://secure.safaribooksonline.com/promo.asp?code=ORAUG&portal=oreilly&CMP= BAC-TP2974244892 --------------------- Open Source --------------------- ***Things Squid Administrators Should Know New users often struggle with the same frustrating set of idiosyncrasies involved in learning Squid, the popular web caching software. Here are six things you should know about using Squid from the get-go, from Duane Wessels, creator of Squid and author of "Squid: The Definitive Guide." http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/onlamp/2004/02/12/squid.html ***A Ticketing System for a Three-Tiered Architecture Modern business apps often use a three-tiered architecture, separating the user interface from the data store from the application logic. Of course, this separation can add wait time, as users wait for their requests to process. Elena Garderman and Howard Feldman explain how adding a ticketing system can improve the process. http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/onlamp/2004/02/12/ticket_system.html --------------------- Mac --------------------- ***Home Automation with Mac OS X, Part 1 Having more control over how your home operates isn't just a geek fantasy. You can lower energy costs, improve security, and enhance the overall ambiance of your humble abode. Alan Graham shows you how to leverage your Mac OS X computer and get started. http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2004/02/13/home_automation.html ***Automated Backups with Existing Tools Backing up your hard disc is the job nobody wants to do--and even more so, no one wants to spend a lot of money doing it. Fortunately, Apple gives you everything you need in Mac OS X. You just have to pull it together. Peter Hickman shows you how. http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2004/02/10/backup.html --------------------- Windows --------------------- ***Protect Yourself Against Denial-of-Service Attacks The only way to defend yourself is to understand your attacker in-depth. This excerpt from the recently released "Security Warrior" by Cyrus Peikari and Anton Chuvakin details denial-of-service attacks against Windows XP. Read it and prepare yourself. http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/windows/excerpt/swarrior_ch13/index1.html --------------------- Java --------------------- ***Book Preview: Eclipse The new Eclipse Foundation was recently announced at EclipseCon, and the Eclipse project is moving toward a June release of Eclipse 3.0. O'Reilly will publish Steve Holzner's "Eclipse: A Java Developer's Guide" this summer. http://www.onjava.com/pub/a/onjava/2004/02/04/AntEclipse.html A beta preview of Chapter 5, "Building Eclipse Projects Using Ant," is available online: http://www.onjava.com/onjava/2004/02/04/AntEclipse.pdf ***Six Cool New JSP and Servlet Features Bruce Perry describes six cool new features that Java developers who use Tomcat 5.x and other Servlet-API-2.4- and JSP-2.0-compliant containers will want to use in their projects. Bruce is the author of "Java Servlet & JSP Cookbook." http://www.onjava.com/pub/a/onjava/2004/02/11/jspcookbook.html --------------------- Web --------------------- ***O'Reilly Network Is SXSW Web Awards Finalist South by Southwest (SXSW) has announced the finalists for its 2004 Web Awards, and the O'Reilly Network has been selected as a finalist in the "Classic" category. Cast your vote for your favorite finalist by March 5; winners will be announced at the Web Awards gala on March 14 in Austin, Texas. http://sxsw.com/interactive/web_awards/finalists/ Vote today: http://www.sxsw.com/vote/peoples_choice/ --------------------- .NET --------------------- ***ADO.NET Connection Pooling Explained Because the .NET managed providers manage the connection pool for us, using shared database connections is as easy as a summertime splash in the kiddie pool. But if those connections unexpectedly become invalid you could find yourself floundering in the deep end. In this new article, James Still will have you doing laps in no time. http://www.ondotnet.com/pub/a/dotnet/2004/02/09/connpool.html ***Cooking with C# Learn how to convert a string returned as a Byte[ ] back into a string and how to handle an exception that occurs within a method invoked via reflection in these sample recipes from O'Reilly's recently released "C# Cookbook." http://www.ondotnet.com/pub/a/dotnet/excerpt/csharpckbk_chap01/index.html ================================================ News From Your Peers ================================================ ***Check out the new O'Reilly User Group Wiki for the latest news You can look for a meeting, user group, or post information any time you want. http://wiki.oreillynet.com/usergroups/view?HomePage Until next time-- Marsee ------------------------------------------------------- From george at metaart.org Tue Feb 24 15:49:20 2004 From: george at metaart.org (George Woolley) Date: Mon Aug 2 21:33:38 2004 Subject: [oak perl] Fwd: O'Reilly Looking for a Software Engineer--Sebastopol, CA Message-ID: <200402241349.20704.george@metaart.org> This just came in from Marsee. It seems like someone in the group might be interested. ---------- Forwarded Message ---------- Subject: O'Reilly Looking for a Software Engineer--Sebastopol, CA Date: Tuesday 24 February 2004 1:32 pm From: Marsee Henon To: george@metaart.org Hello, Thought you should you know about this to pass along to any UG members or friends. (This information is available online at: http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/j/5) Software Engineer, Sebastopol, CA O'Reilly is looking for a Software Engineer to work as a part of the development team in our Sebastopol office. This position will be primarily responsible for supporting our production staff in the development and maintenance of program tools to convert incoming manuscripts to final book form. Minimum Requirements: Advanced knowledge of system analysis and design. This should include structured methodologies, logical and physical database design, and business process engineering. Practical experience in XML and web services. Ability to use XML in document preparation. Must have knowledge of XSL-FO and XSLT. Experience with DocBook is preferred. Knowledge of FrameMaker is a real plus. Expertise in Perl and at least one other programming language (preferably Java or C/C++) and application development experience in web-based systems and client-server environments. Minimum of a Bachelors degree in Computer Sciences or related field OR 6-8 years of actual related business experience. Proven project management skills. Ability to solve complex technical and business issues with direction/approval. Must possess good communication skills, both verbal and written with demonstrated success in a team environment. Ability to interpret, evaluate and respond to problems and requests received from business users. Working knowledge of the publishing industry is desirable. Organized, deadline driven and pays attention to detail. Location: Sebastopol, CA Status: Full-time Education: College Travel: Yes Telecommuting: no Contact Us Jobs@O'Reilly O'Reilly Media, Inc. 1005 Gravenstein Highway North Sebastopol, CA 95472 Fax: 707-829-9610 Email: jobs@oreilly.com No phone calls please. ------------------------------------------------------- From george at metaart.org Wed Feb 25 03:03:38 2004 From: george at metaart.org (George Woolley) Date: Mon Aug 2 21:33:38 2004 Subject: [oak perl] Thanks from Marsee Message-ID: <200402250103.38208.george@metaart.org> Hm, this was addressed to all the O'Reilly group leaders. So I don't know how much it applies to us. Well actually I do know it's relevant in one case. Anyway, thanks to those of you who sent annoyances. You know who you are. ---------- Forwarded Message ---------- From: Marsee Henon ... Thanks for the great response to our call, a few weeks ago, for annoyances, gripes, and complaints about Excel. The email we got was extremely useful and a lot of your members not only sent annoyances, but fixes! So, a thousand thanks for the help. ... From george at metaart.org Wed Feb 25 03:08:04 2004 From: george at metaart.org (George Woolley) Date: Mon Aug 2 21:33:38 2004 Subject: [oak perl] Fwd: PC Hardware Annoyances Needed for New Book Message-ID: <200402250108.04106.george@metaart.org> ---------- Forwarded Message ---------- Subject: PC Hardware Annoyances Needed for New Book Date: Tuesday 24 February 2004 6:06 pm From: Marsee Henon To: george@metaart.org Dear User Group Leader: ..., we have another book in the wings--this one focusing on PC hardware annoyances. We're not just talking about PCs and laptops per se--we also talking about all the hardware that's inside and attached to your computer, such as memory, motherboards, hard drives, printers, scanners, home networks, DSL/cable, CD/DVD, and host of other annoying hardware devices. If any members of your group have PC hardware annoyances they'd like to see solved, have them email me (marsee@oreilly.com) with "PC Hardware Annoyances" in the subject. Just have them note what hardware is giving them grief (e.g. Dell Dimension 8100 with 1.3GHz P4; LaserJet 3150; Verbatim Producer 44 DVD+/-RW; etc.), and any relevant software that's involved (such as the OS, a driver, OCR software, etc.). As thanks for sharing, we'll make sure to get copies of "PC Hardware Annoyances" sent to your group shortly after publication. Thanks, Marsee *** An example: Hardware Windows Setting Blocks DVD Upgrade THE ANNOYANCE: I want to update the firmware for my Sony DRX510UL DVD burner, and the site said to disable the DMA setting in Windows XP before doing so. But it neglects to tell you how. THE FIX: The Sony drive is terrificit burns DVD+R and DVD-R discs, and uses both DVD-RW and DVD+RW rewritable media. But ask Sony for support, and it responds with a virtual raspberryits online instructions are complex and often impossible to understand. Luckily, fiddling with DMA isn't difficult. Here's how to turn it off: Windows XP/2000. Open the System control panel, choose the Hardware tab, and click the Device Manager button. Double-click "IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers" and double-click "Secondary IDE Channel" (your DVD drive is most likely located on the secondary channel; if not, choose "Primary IDE Channel"). Click the Advanced Settings tab, and under Device 0 (master) or Device 1 (slave) (depending on how your drive is set up), select PIO Only from the Transfer Mode drop-down menu. Click OK. Windows 98/Me. Open the System control panel and choose the Device Manager tab. Double-click CD-ROM, then double-click your drive. Select the Settings tab, uncheck the DMA option, and click OK. Remember to reverse the previous steps once your DVD drive's firmware is installed. *** From george at metaart.org Thu Feb 26 18:05:06 2004 From: george at metaart.org (George Woolley) Date: Mon Aug 2 21:33:38 2004 Subject: [oak perl] "Smileys" Review - completed Message-ID: <200402261605.06572.george@metaart.org> I just put a review of the old O'Reilly smileys' book on our site at http://oakland.pm.org/reviews/smileys.html in case it amuses you to read it. George P.S. to Marsee: I also put a short review of "Smileys" on the O'Reilly site. From george at metaart.org Sat Feb 28 15:11:09 2004 From: george at metaart.org (George Woolley) Date: Mon Aug 2 21:33:38 2004 Subject: [oak perl] Exegesis 7: Formats [Perl 6] Message-ID: <200402281311.09206.george@metaart.org> Exegesis 7 by Damian Conway February 27, 2004 http://www.perl.com/pub/a/2004/02/27/exegesis7.html Form.pm and form "Unlike Perl 5, Perl 6 doesn't have a format keyword. Or the associated built-in formatting mechanism. Instead it has a Form.pm module. And a form function."