From davidnicol at gmail.com Mon Nov 1 10:33:00 2004 From: davidnicol at gmail.com (David Nicol) Date: Mon Nov 1 10:33:08 2004 Subject: [Kc] resource acquisition is initialization Message-ID: <934f64a2041101083325541d47@mail.gmail.com> http://www.hackcraft.net/raii/ -- David L Nicol transportation infrastructure technology contracting since 2002 From marsee at oreilly.com Wed Nov 3 19:56:03 2004 From: marsee at oreilly.com (Marsee Henon) Date: Wed Nov 3 19:56:22 2004 Subject: [Kc] Newsletter from O'Reilly UG Program, November 3 Message-ID: ================================================================ O'Reilly UG Program News--Just for User Group Leaders November 3, 2004 ================================================================ -Putting Together Your Holiday Newsletter? -SitePoint Booklet Samplers for your Members -Looking for a Speaker on Java and/or XML? ---------------------------------------------------------------- Book Info ---------------------------------------------------------------- ***Review books are available Copies of our books are available for your members to review-- send me an email and please include the book's ISBN number on your request. Let me know if you need your book by a certain date. Allow at least four weeks for shipping. ***Please send copies of your book reviews Email me a copy of your newsletters or book reviews. For tips and suggestions on writing book reviews, go to: http://ug.oreilly.com/bookreviews.html ***Discount information Don't forget to remind your members about our 20% discount on O'Reilly, No Starch, Paraglyph, Pragmatic Bookshelf, SitePoint, and Syngress books and O'Reilly conferences. Just use code DSUG. ***Group purchases with better discounts are available Please let me know if you are interested and I can put you in touch with our sales department. ---------------------------------------------------------------- General News ---------------------------------------------------------------- ***Putting Together your Holiday Newsletter? Don't forget to include books on you list of gift suggestions. Please borrow from our gift guide press announcement here: http://press.oreilly.com/pub/pr/1248 Or I can put together a custom list for you. Just let me know what your deadline is. ***SitePoint Booklet Samplers for your members Let me know how many you need and I can send some copies of this 150-page booklet that features four chapters from four recent books including "The Flash Anthology," "The PHP Anthology," "Build Your Own ASP.NET Website Using C# & VB.NET" and "The Web Design Business Kit." (Available while supplies last.) For more information on SitePoint, go to: http://sitepoint.oreilly.com/ ***Looking for a Speaker on Java and/or XML? Elliotte Rusty Harold, author of many books on Java and/or XML, is available to speak to user groups within the New York metro area, or a little further out if they can afford bus/plane/train/cab fare. Right now he's particularly interested in talking about Effective XML, XOM, XQuery, and RELAX NG. Or, for the more Java-focused user group, he's thinking a lot lately both about what will be in Mustang, Dolphin, and beyond, and what should be (which aren't always the same thing). For contact information, go to the speaker page on the user group wiki: http://wiki.oreillynet.com/usergroups/index.cgi?SpeakersLookingforUGs ================================================================ O'Reilly News for User Group Members November 3, 2004 ================================================================ ---------------------------------------------------------------- Book News ---------------------------------------------------------------- -Spam Kings -The Cult of Mac -Gaming Hacks -Perl Core Language Little Black Book, 2nd Edition -Wireless Hacking: Projects for Wi-Fi Enthusiasts -DVD Studio Pro 3: In the Studio -Game Console Hacking -Steal This File Sharing Book -How to Cheat at Managing Windows Small Business Server 2003 -Write Great Code -Build Your Own ASP.NET Website Using C# & VB.NET -Nessus Network Auditing -Cisco Routers for the Desperate -Programming Ruby ---------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming Events ---------------------------------------------------------------- -International PHP Conference, Frankfurt-Morfelden, Germany-- November 9-10 -Niel M. Bornstein (".NET and XML"), XML 2004 Conference and Exposition, Washington, DC--November 15-19 -Peter Morville ("Information Architecture for the World Wide Web"), Information Architecture & Findability, Washington, DC--November 18 -Bonnie Biafore ("Online Investing Hacks"), NAIC Puget Sound Investor Fair, Bellevue, WA--November 19 ---------------------------------------------------------------- Conference News ---------------------------------------------------------------- -Call for Participation: The MySQL Users Conference-- Proposals are due by November 15 ---------------------------------------------------------------- News ---------------------------------------------------------------- -Gauging the Geek Factor--A Look at Technology's Impact -Russian Denies Authoring "SoBig" Worm -Analyzing Baseball Stats with R -Ruby on Rails Project -Introducing PHP 5's Standard Library -A Firm Foundation for the Linux Desktop -Copeland Operating System Rocks Mac OS X Con -Hacking iPod and iTunes -Free Exhibit Hall Pass for Macworld, San Francisco, CA-- January 11-14 2005 -Stop Mac Envy Forever -Introducing SQL Server Reporting Services -How to Use JMS with PHP -The Singleton as a Network Management Pattern -Interview: Carmen Rizzo--Synthesizing the World ================================================ Book News ================================================ Did you know you can request a free book to review for your group? Ask your group leader for more information. For book review writing tips and suggestions, go to: http://ug.oreilly.com/bookreviews.html Don't forget, you can receive 20% off any O'Reilly, No Starch, Paraglyph, Pragmatic Bookshelf, SitePoint, or Syngress book you purchase directly from O'Reilly. Just use code DSUG when ordering online or by phone 800-998-9938. http://www.oreilly.com/ ***Free ground shipping is available for online orders of at least $29.95 that go to a single U.S. address. This offer applies to U.S. delivery addresses in the 50 states and Puerto Rico. For more details, go to: http://www.oreilly.com/news/freeshipping_0703.html ---------------------------------------------------------------- New Releases ---------------------------------------------------------------- ***Spam Kings Publisher: O'Reilly ISBN: 0596007329 The mounting onslaught of email pitches has some techno-pundits declaring that spam is on the verge of destroying the Internet. In this book, author and veteran investigative journalist Brian McWilliams delivers a compelling account of the cat-and-mouse game played by spam entrepreneurs (including the notorious Davis Wolfgang Hawke, "Dr. Fatburn," and Scott Richter) in search of easy fortunes and the cyber-vigilantes who are trying to stop them. http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/spamkings/ Chapter 1, "Birth of a Spam King," is available online: http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/spamkings/chapter/index.html ***The Cult of Mac Publisher: No Starch ISBN: 1886411832 "The Cult of Mac" is an in-depth look at Mac users and their unique, creative, and often humorous culture. Like fans of a football team or a rock group, Macintosh fans have their own customs, with clearly defined obsessions, rites, and passages. From people who get Mac tattoos and haircuts, to those who furnish their apartments out of empty Mac boxes, this book exposes all sides of Mac fanaticism, from the innocuous to the insane. http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/1886411832/ ***Gaming Hacks Publisher: O'Reilly ISBN: 0596007140 It doesn't take long for an avid or just wickedly clever gamer to chaff at the limitations of videogame software and hardware. If you want to go far beyond the obvious, there's a tremendous amount of free fun you can have by following the creative exploits of the gaming gurus. Gaming Hacks is the indispensable guide to cool things gamers can do to create, modify, and hack videogame hardware and software. http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/gaminghks/ Five sample hacks are available online: http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/gaminghks/chapter/index.html ***Perl Core Language Little Black Book, 2nd Edition Publisher: Paraglyph ISBN: 1932111921 "Perl Core Language Little Black Book, Second Edition," provides insightful tips and techniques for programming with Perl. Immediate solutions are provided with field-tested examples to help programmers and web developers quickly solve problems and exploit the power and flexibility of Perl. This updated edition covers the current version of Perl (5.8) as well as highlighting critical features of the upcoming 6.0 version. http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/1932111921/ ***Wireless Hacking: Projects for Wi-Fi Enthusiasts Publisher: Syngress ISBN: 193183637X As the cost of wireless technology drops, the number of wi-fi users continues to grow. Millions of people have discovered the joy and delight of "cutting the cord." Many of those people are looking for ways to take the next step and try out some of the cutting edge techniques for building and deploying "homebrew" wi-fi networks, both large and small. This book shows wi-fi enthusiasts and consumers of wi-fi LANs who want to modify their wi-fi hardware how to build and deploy homebrew wi-fi networks, both large and small. http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/193183637X/ ***DVD Studio Pro 3: In the Studio Publisher: O'Reilly ISBN: 0596005881 This indispensable book gives you the tools and know-how to master DVD Studio Pro 3. Oversized and in full color, it's a highly visual book that's ideal for Macintosh ProApps developers--those who use Final Cut Pro 4 and Shake 3--as well as for prosumer and professional filmmakers who wish to transfer their projects to DVDs. The book goes well beyond the program's features list to demystify the entire process of DVD design and authoring. http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/dvdstudio3/ Chapter 5, "An International DVD Project," is available online: http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/dvdstudio3/chapter/index.html ***Game Console Hacking Publisher: Syngress ISBN: 1931836310 "Game Console Hacking" is the first book on the market to show video game enthusiasts (self-described hardware geeks) how to disassemble, reconfigure, customize and re-purpose their Atari, Nintendo, Playstation, and Xbox systems. http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/1931836310/ ***Steal This File Sharing Book Publisher: No Starch ISBN: 159327050X "Steal This File Sharing Book" peels back the mystery surrounding file sharing networks such as Kazaa, Morpheus, and Usenet, and shows you how they work and how to use them wisely. The book goes on to reveal the dangers (viruses, spyware, lawsuits) of using file sharing networks and tells you how to avoid those threats. It also includes coverage of the ongoing battle between software, video, and music file sharers and the industries that are trying to stop them. http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/159327050X/ ***How to Cheat at Managing Windows Small Business Server 2003 Publisher: Syngress ISBN: 1932266801 If running a Windows Small Business Server 2003 network is just one of your many job responsibilities, this book is for you. It applies the tried and true "80/20" rule to this incredibly complex operating system, providing you with exactly the information you need to install, configure, and troubleshoot the W2K3 features most likely to ruin your day (such as setting user permissions, restoring lost data, and sharing hardware) without having to wade through material you don't need. http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/1932266801/ ***Write Great Code Publisher: No Starch ISBN: 1593270038 You'll hear that the secret to efficient, well written software is learning assembly language programming. However, what you really need to learn is machine organization, which will help you make wise choices with respect to programming statements and data types when writing software, no matter which language you use. This book teaches the important concepts of machine organization in a language-independent fashion, without the extra overhead of having to learn assembly language. http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/1593270038/ ***Build Your Own ASP.NET Website Using C# & VB.NET Publisher: SitePoint ISBN: 0957921861 Want to write dynamic, database-driven ASP.NET websites? Look no further than this beginner's book which provides an excellent introduction to databases,programming concepts, and more. Learn through practical examples by creating and customizing an Intranet website, ecommerce store, shopping cart with PayPal check out, and more. All you need to get started is a Windows PC. http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/0957921861/ ***Nessus Network Auditing Publisher: Syngress ISBN: 1931836086 Nessus is the premier Open Source vulnerability assessment tool, and was recently voted the "most popular" open source security tool of any kind. This is the first book available on Nessus and it is written by the world's premier Nessus developers led by the creator of Nessus, Renaud Deraison. http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/1931836086/ ***Cisco Routers for the Desperate Publisher: No Starch ISBN: 1593270496 "Cisco Routers for the Desperate" is a brief, meaty introduction to Cisco routers that will make a competent systems administrator comfortable with the Cisco environment, teach them how to troubleshoot problems, and take them through the basic tasks of router maintenance and integration into an existing network. This compact book is designed to be read once, and then left on top of the router until something breaks. http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/1593270496/ ***Programming Ruby Publisher: Pragmatic Bookshelf ISBN: 0974514055 The famous Pickaxe book (so named for the tool on the cover) is the definitive reference to the highly-regarded Ruby programming language. Author Dave Thomas has expanded the new Second Edition with over 200 pages of new material and major enhancements from the original, covering all the new and improved language features of Ruby 1.8 and standard library modules. http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/0974514055 ================================================ Upcoming Events ================================================ ***For more events, please see: http://events.oreilly.com/ ***International PHP Conference, Frankfurt-Morfelden, Germany-- November 9-10 We'll have our own stand and editor in attendance at this conference that runs in tandem with MySQL ComCon. http://www.php-conference.de/2004/index_en.php ***Niel M. Bornstein (".NET and XML"), XML 2004 Conference and Exposition, Washington, DC--November 15-19 Niel presents a tutorial based on his book at this annual event. http://www.xmlconference.org/xmlusa/ ***Peter Morville ("Information Architecture for the World Wide Web"), Information Architecture & Findability, Washington, DC--November 18 Peter leads a new full-day seminar on information architecture from top to bottom, explaining how search and navigation systems can be designed to support and shape user behavior. http://semanticstudios.com/presentations/iaf/ ***Bonnie Biafore ("Online Investing Hacks"), NAIC Puget Sound Investor Fair, Bellevue, WA--November 19 Bonnie speaks at this National Association of Investors Corporation event. http://www.better-investing.org/chapter/puget/ ================================================ Conference News ================================================ ***Call for Participation: The MySQL Users Conference-- Proposals are due by November 15 >From embedded solutions to web-commerce and critical business applications, MySQL is everywhere--with more than five million active installations worldwide. To introduce new users to MySQL and help developers and IT professionals keep pace with the latest advancements, MySQL AB has teamed up with O'Reilly Media, Inc. to co-present the third annual MySQL Users Conference, scheduled for April 18-21, 2005, in Santa Clara, CA. For complete conference details visit: http://www.mysqluc.com Visit the submissions page for all the details on tracks and proposal guidelines--this year's theme is "MySQL Everywhere." Proposals are due no later than November 15, 2004. http://conferences.oreillynet.com/cs/mysqluc2005/create/e_sess ================================================ News From O'Reilly & Beyond ================================================ --------------------- General News --------------------- ***Gauging the Geek Factor--A Look at Technology's Impact Hundreds of new technologies are changing the way we work, play...and even how we think. Are they just making it easier for us to do what we already do? Or are they having a more fundamental impact? Our books explore how today???s technology is transforming society--including the thoughtful musings and tongue-in-cheek outlook of the geeks responsible. For a complete list of these books, check out: http://techsociety.oreilly.com/ ***Russian Denies Authoring "SoBig" Worm SoBig, the computer worm that ran rampant on the Internet in 2003, is the subject of a new, anonymously authored report that definitively claims Send-Safe as its creator. Ruslan Ibragimov, owner of the accused, Russian-based bulk email company, flatly denies the report's claim in an online interview with author Brian McWilliams. http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/network/2004/11/02/sobig.html ***Analyzing Baseball Stats with R An introduction to one way of examining the abundance of raw data available on the Web: using R to analyze baseball stats. http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/network/2004/10/27/baseball.html --------------------- Open Source --------------------- ***Ruby on Rails Project Rails is a new open source web application framework that provides everything needed to build real-world applications, using fewer lines of code than other development environments. It's a full-stack framework, so all layers are built to work seamlessly together and you can use a single language from top to bottom. Everything from templates to control flow to business logic is written in Ruby. http://www.rubyonrails.org/show/HomePage ***Introducing PHP 5's Standard Library Program reusable code easily with the Standard PHP Library extension. As Harry Fuecks explains, this promising functionality snuck into PHP 5 without fanfare, but bodes extremely well for the future of standardised PHP development. http://www.sitepoint.com/article/php5-standard-library ***A Firm Foundation for the Linux Desktop Nearly every advance of Linux, open source, and free software on the desktop owes a debt to the X Window System. Too often, this debt goes unacknowledged. With the birth of X.org earlier this year, a foundational but once-stagnant project prepares to improve itself and its code to help free desktops everywhere. Andy Oram reports. http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/q/articles --------------------- Mac --------------------- ***The Copeland Operating System Rocks Mac OS X Con Although it's been twenty years since the band broke up, Stewart Copeland is still best known as the former drummer of the Police. David Battino, chairman of the Audio Track of the O'Reilly Mac OS X Conference audio track, hosted a keynote conversation with Copeland about the drummer's career as a film composer. http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/osx2004/copeland.html Photos of Stewart at the conference: http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/osx2004/wednesday_photos.html And here's an interview with Stewart on Inside Mac Radio: http://www.osxfaq.com/radio/10-2004/10-30.html ***Hacking iPod and iTunes Your favorite toy just got better. Push the envelope of your iPod's capabilities: turn it into a universal remote, permanently install it in your car, run Linux on it, make smart playlists, and tame iTunes with AppleScript. These hacks are excerpted from O'Reilly's "iPod and iTunes Hacks." http://digitalmedia.oreilly.com/2004/10/28/ipoditunes_hcks.html ***Free Exhibit Hall Pass for Macworld, San Francisco, CA-- January 11-14 2005 Make sure you register online with priority code NO220 before December 10. http://www.macworldexpo.com --------------------- Windows/.NET --------------------- ***Tips for Improving Graphics Performance Stephen Bigelow, author of "PC Hardware Annoyances," breaks it down to the basics with seven tips to improve your computer's graphics performance. Oftentimes, the solution to what seems to be a hefty problem may be as simple as reading the fine print on a box and adjusting your settings accordingly. http://www.windowsdevcenter.com/pub/a/windows/2004/11/02/pcannoy_1.html ***Stop Mac Envy Forever Do you suffer from Mac envy? You're not alone. Apple is famous for its interface design. But suffer no more--Thomas Kunneth shows you how to make your PC work like Mac OS X. http://www.windowsdevcenter.com/pub/a/windows/2004/10/26/MacEnvy.html ***Introducing SQL Server Reporting Services Microsoft has finally added reporting capabilities to SQL Server 2000. Wei-Meng Lee walks you through the basics of creating a simple report using the SQL Server 2000 Reporting Services. http://www.ondotnet.com/pub/a/dotnet/2004/11/01/reportingsvcs.html --------------------- Java --------------------- ***How to Use JMS with PHP Java Messaging Service (JMS) is a great enterprise messaging architecture, but what if you have have a web application written in a non-Java language that wants to participate in JMS? Amir Shevat shows how PHP can be made to work with JMS. http://www.onjava.com/pub/a/onjava/2004/10/27/php-jms.html ***The Singleton as a Network Management Pattern Patterns aren't for the local memory space any more. As Stephen B. Morris points out, patterns are also useful for network management problems. In this installment, he shows how the Singleton pattern can be used to manage access to functionality in a networked system. http://www.onjava.com/pub/a/onjava/2004/10/27/NMSingleton.html --------------------- Digital Media --------------------- ***Interview: Carmen Rizzo--Synthesizing the World If Carmen Rizzo were in a circus, he???d be its best juggler. It???s amazing how this Hollywood-based producer, composer, and remixer keeps artists, songs, technologies, concerts, films, studios, continents, and even trustees aloft. Appropriately, one of his remixes appears this year on Cirque du Soleil???s 20th Anniversary CD. http://digitalmedia.oreilly.com/2004/10/26/rizzo_db.html ================================================ O'Reilly User Group Wiki ================================================ Don't forget to check out the O'Reilly UG wiki to see what user groups across the globe are up to: http://wiki.oreillynet.com/usergroups/index.cgi Until next time-- Marsee From marsee at oreilly.com Fri Nov 5 19:09:22 2004 From: marsee at oreilly.com (Marsee Henon) Date: Fri Nov 5 19:09:44 2004 Subject: [Kc] Question from the O'Reilly UG program Message-ID: Hello, Do you publish book/product reviews on your web site? If you do, please let me know. And send me the URL to your main review page. Thanks, Marsee From davidnicol at gmail.com Wed Nov 17 22:43:19 2004 From: davidnicol at gmail.com (David Nicol) Date: Wed Nov 17 22:43:28 2004 Subject: [Kc] Anyone care to review an O'Reilly book? Message-ID: <934f64a204111720433b707df7@mail.gmail.com> Books are provided to those who will review them on lists and other public forae, such as writing Amazon reviews. http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/new.html Send your selection and mailing address to Marsee Henon, the user groups coordinator, at marsee@oreilly.com.