O'Reilly.comUG Program Newsletter

Hi there—

viguy As you might have noticed, this is our first HTML user group newsletter. I hope it's easier to read, although I think it's just as long. Remember you can request new releases for reviews or raffles by simply replying to this email with your list of titles. And please include the 10 digit ISBN to make your order arrive faster!

I'm looking for user group videos or podcasts to blog about at http://oreillyfyi.com. If you have one you want to share, send me a short description and the url so people can watch and listen. Do you have any other special events or news we should know about? Send them along any time. I'll fit them in as I can.

Travel alert:

If you are going to be in Orlando for Tech*Ed the beginning of June, make sure you let me know so we can try to meet up--if I already asked you, no need to tell me again. I'll be in and out of the O'Reilly booth and attending the INETA UG leader Summit on Saturday, June 2.

I'll also be going to the San Francisco Bay Area Maker Faire 2007. I'm not sure where I'll be yet, but we we can try and say hi if your going too.

Thanks for your help!

—Marsee

In this issue:


O'Reilly UG Program News—Just for User Group Leaders


Put Up a Banner Get a Free Book

We're looking for user groups to display our discount banners on their web sites. If you send me your group's site with one or more banners, I'll send you the O'Reilly book(s) of your choice. Choose from the following list:

O'Reilly News for User Group Members

New Releases: Books, Short Cuts, and Rough Cuts

bookGet 35% off from O'Reilly, No Starch, Paraglyph, PC Publishing, Pragmatic Bookshelf, Rocky Nook, SitePoint, or YoungJin books you purchase directly from O'Reilly.

Just use code "DSUG" when ordering online or by phone 800-998-9938. Free ground shipping on orders of $29.95 or more. See details.

Did you know you can request a free book or PDF 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

New Releases: Books, Short Cuts, and Rough Cuts:


MAKE Magazine Subscriptions

The annual subscription price for four issues is $34.95. When you subscribe with this link, you'll get a free issue--one plus four more for $34.95. So subscribe for yourself or friends with this great offer for UG Members: five volumes for the cost of four.

Subscribe at: http://www.makezine.com/go/ugsub

Craft Magazine Subscriptions

The annual subscription price for four issues is $34.95. When you subscribe with this link, you'll get a free issue--the first one plus four more for $34.95. So subscribe for yourself or friends with this great offer for charter subscribers: five volumes for the cost of four.

Subscribe at: http://www.craftzine.com/go/craftug

Upcoming Events

For more events, please see: events.oreilly.com

Ted Neward at DevTeach
May 14-18, 2007
Montreal, Canada
Author Ted Neward (C# in a Nutshell ) is a speaker at the International Developers Conference this year.

XTech 2007: The Ubiquitous Web
May 15-18, 2007
Paris
France
Not only will you be able to listen to authors Edd Dumbill (Mono: A Developer's Notebook, Programming Web Services with XML-RPC, and Linux Unwired), Priscilla Walmsley (XQuery), Schuyler Erle (Google Maps Hacks and Mapping Hacks), Eric Van Der Vlist (RELAX NG and XML Schema), Jo Walsh (Mapping Hacks), and Matt Webb (Mind Hacks). You will also meet some O'Reilly staff Xavier Cazin and Rob McKinnon. Stop by the O'Reilly booth to say hello, peruse our titles, and meet our expert authors.

Adam Trachtenberg, php|tek 2007
May 16-18, 2007
Hyatt Regency O'Hare
Chicago, IL
Adam Trachtenberg (PHP Cookbook, Second Edition and Upgrading to PHP 5) presents "Dude, Where's My Used Car?."

Scott Berkun at Adaptive Path
May 16, 2007
363 Brannan Street
San Francisco, CA
Author Scott Berkun (The Myths of Innovation and The Art of Project Management) gives a talk based on "The Myths of Innovation."

RailsConf
May 17-20, 2007
Oregon Convention Center
Portland, OR
Rails is an efficient way to implement elegant web apps using a lot less code, setting a new, higher standard for web frameworks and igniting the imagination of developers everywhere. Ruby Central is teaming up with O'Reilly Media to co-present RailsConf 2007.

Greg Kroah-Hartman, FreedomHEC 2007
May 18-19, 2007
Holiday Inn LA City Center
Los Angeles, CA
Greg Kroah-Hartman (Linux Kernel in a Nutshell and Linux Device Drivers, Third Edition) is one of this years speakers.

Maker Faire 2007--Bay Area
May 19-20, 2007
County Fairgrounds
San Mateo, CA
Join us for MAKE magazine's Maker Faire--a hands-on event featuring Makers whose science and technology projects will amaze you and ignite your imagination. Meet Expert Makers and MAKE contributors, hear from O'Reilly's Hacks author, attend DIY Tutorials, explore DIY projects and demonstrations, and see the Ultimate Workshop.

Jim Holmes at the West Michigan Day of .NET
May 19, 2007
Grand Rapids Davenport University, W.A. Lettinga Campus
Grand Rapids, MI
Jim Holmes (Windows Developer Power Tools) presents Open Source Test Tools and Real World SharePoint.

Where 2.0 Conference 2007
May 29-30, 2007
Fairmont Hotel
San Jose, CA
The third annual O'Reilly Where 2.0 Conference brings together the people, projects, and issues building the new technological foundations and creating value in the location industry. There's no better place to meet the people behind the mash-ups and platforms, and the folks looking ahead to the future of geospace. Join us to debate and discuss what's viable now, and what's lurking just below the radar.

The Grails eXchange 2007
May 30-Jun 1, 2007
Barbican Centre, London
UK
The First International Grails eXchange 2007 is promising to be a great event any self-respecting Java web developer cannot afford to miss. Packed with presentations on Grails, Groovy, Ajax & Web 2.0 and JEE and the core technologies that support the Grails technology stack such as JEE, Spring, Hibernate, SiteMesh, Dojo and Quartz. Drop at our booth and browse our latest publications.

Ignite Boston!
May 31, 2007
Tavern in the Square
Cambridge, MA
Mingle and talk tech with your fellow FOOs, alpha geeks, and techies from the greater Boston area. While you are there, you can join a Make Challenge team and participate in building bridges (how much weight can your bridge--made from less than 1K popsicle sticks-?support?) After that, we will have a special Keynote kicking off our Ignite night, and then onto guest speakers who catch you up on the cool, new, innovative stuff going on in technology today. Don?t blink or you?ll miss their lightning-fast, five-minute presentations.

Stephen Johnson seminar: Beauty in Photography - Inspiration & Composition
Jun 2, 2007
Stephen Johnson Photography Studios
Pacifica, CA
Join Stephen Johnson(Stephen Johnson on Digital Photography) in this seminar on photographic composition. Sources of inspiration will be explored, from photography to other art forms, ideas and people. There will not be rules of composition propagated here, but explorations and suggestions. A good nuts and bolts day for improving your photographs.

Mikkel Aaland & Derrick Story at Book Passage
Jun 9, 2007
Book Passage, San Francisco Ferry Building Store
1 Ferry Building, #42, San Francisco, CA
Ask the Experts: A Digital Photography Brown Bag Lunch. Leading digital photographers Mikkel Aaland (Photoshop Lightroom Adventure and Photoshop CS2 RAW) and Derrick Story (Digital Photography Pocket Guide, 3rd Edition and iPhoto 6: The Missing Manual) answer all your questions.

Jenifer Tidwell, UPA 2007
Jun 11-15, 2007
Austin, TX
Join Jenifer Tidwell (Designing Interfaces) at the UPA 2007: "Patterns: Blueprints for Usability" Conference.

Stephen Few at International Summit on Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence
Jun 13-15, 2007
Rome, Italy
Author Stephen Few (Information Dashboard Design) presents a workshop in Italy.

Tools of Change for Publishing Conference
Jun 18-20, 2007
Fairmont Hotel
San Jose, CA
Technology is fundamentally transforming publishing. The first O'Reilly Tools of Change for Publishing Conference is being launched to raise the level of technology knowledge and discourse in the publishing industry and to provide a meeting ground for those leading the charge into the future of publishing.

Stephen Johnson conducts workshop in Ireland
Jun 20-30, 2007
Ireland
Join Stephen Johnson(Stephen Johnson on Digital Photography) and Anthony Hobbs for an unforgettable journey along the rustic West Coast of Ireland. This workshop will include hotel stays in several towns along our route from County Clare towards Achill Island. Along the way, participants will explore western Ireland's landscape with its rugged coast, lush greens, rocky islands, lake-filled valleys and remote castles. Enrollment is limited to 12.

Conference News

Where 2.0 Conference 2007Where 2.0 Conference 2007

May 29-30, 2007
San Jose, CA
Last Chance - Register using code "whr07dsug" when you register, and receive 15% off the registration price.

O'Reilly TOC ConferenceO'Reilly TOC Conference
June 18-20, 2007
San Jose, CA
Use code "toc07dsug" when you register, and receive 15% off the early registration price.

O'Reilly Open Source Convention 2007O'Reilly Open Source Convention 2007
July 23-27, 2007
Portland, Oregon
Use code "os07dsug" when you register, and receive 15% off the early registration price.

Ubuntu Live ConferenceUbuntu Live
July 22-24, 2007
Portland, Oregon
Use code "ubu07dsug" when you register, and receive 15% off the early registration price.

O'Reilly Energy Innovation ConferenceO'Reilly Energy Innovation Conference
August 22-24, 2007
San Francisco, CA
Use code "ei07usrg" when you register, and receive 15% off the early registration price.

For complete conference information, go to: http://conferences.oreilly.com/

News from O'Reilly & Beyond

General News

New Adobe CS3 Books on the Way
Just in time for the largest software release in Adobe's 25-year history, Adobe Creative Suite 3, we're introducing our new "Learning" series. The new self-paced learning system includes tutorial books, video demos, online resources, and instructor guides. We're creating five brilliantly illustrated books covering everything you need to know about the applications in CS3–Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash, Dreamweaver, and InDesign. Each book can be used on its own or as part of a comprehensive curriculum. Written by product experts and trainers, these new Learning books will be published soon.

A Q&A with Scott Berkun, author of "The Myths of Innovation"
Seattle-based author Scott Berkun's first book, 2005's "The Art of Project Management, quickly scaled the bestseller charts. In his widely anticipated new book, "The Myths of Innovation," Scott aims to demystify innovation. In a recent conversation, Scott illuminates why much of what we think we know about innovation is not only false, but may actually stifle our creativity.

Project Management Bookshelf
You'll Wonder How You Managed Without Them--Learn from veteran managers of software and web development how to plan, manage, and lead projects. These books use dozens of examples from the history of technology, business, and the arts, you'll learn how to convert the knowledge you have into ideas that can change the world.

600 Hours of Video Training Now in Safari
Safari has added top-notch video content to the Safari Library. Safari Library customers now get full access to 75 technical and design courses from leading video training experts. This impressive collection of online videos provides high-quality instruction on web design, software development, and graphics tools and techniques.

Ruby on Rails Meets Eclipse
Many developers are familiar with the Eclipse development environment. With RDT and RadRails, Ruby on Rails developers can have access to the same powerful feature set. Deepak Vohra provides a detailed walkthrough of how to install these packages, and how to create a simple CRUD application using them.

Create Create Your Own O'Reilly Shirt, Mug, or Poster
In just three easy steps you can create a one of a kind shirt, mug, or poster adorned with your favorite O'Reilly animal. Create yours now!

User Group Members Receive a Special 30% Discount on O'Reilly Learning Courses
As an O'Reilly User Group member, you save on all the courses in the following University of Illinois Certificate Series:

  • Linux/Unix System Administration
  • Web Programming
  • Open Source Programming
  • .NET Programming
  • Client-Side Web Programming featuring AJAX
To redeem, use Promotion Code "ORALL1," good for a 30% discount, in Step #3 of the enrollment process. Each course comes with a free O'Reilly book and a 7-day money-back guarantee. Register online.

Open Source

HawkBuilding a Data Warehouse with MySQL and Perl
Most of us are at least somewhat familiar with the kind of relational database schemas that are created for e-commerce sites, among others. But there's another kind of database model out there: the data warehouse. Sam Tregar gives us the lowdown on this highly UNrelational database.

OpenBSD 4.1: Puffy Strikes Again
OpenBSD 4.1 has recently been released. It includes improvements to spam fighting, SMP, porting to new platforms, and much more. As usual, Federico Biancuzzi has sought out some of the most influential OpenBSD developers for a discussion of what you'll find in 4.1

Five Ways to Improve Your Perl Programming
Inside every tangle of obfuscated Perl code is a clean, well-architected gem struggling to emerge from its cocoon. brian d foy has spent a lot of time thinking about this for his new book, "Mastering Perl," and has come up with a Top Five list of things that every Perl programmer should be thinking about when writing code.

Sys Admin

sunflowerTop 7 Things System Administrators Forget to Do
Do system administrators really forget to do basic tasks because they're lazy or do the pressures of the job keep them from getting everything done? Tom Adelstein explores the top seven tasks system administrators forget to do.

Five Basic Mistakes Not to Make in DNS
DNS has managed to keep the Internet afloat for decades, but it spend a lot of its time handling junk requests that should never have escaped from a local WAN. Ron Aitchison has a list of five basic things that every DNS administrator should take care of to keep DNS a happy infrastructure.

Digital Media

lizardRick LePage on Fine Art Printers for Aperture
Affordable hardware for fine art printing is more bountiful than ever. In this exclusive Inside Aperture podcast, Macworld editor at large, Rick LePage, covers the latest offerings from Epson, HP, and Canon. Rick supplies plenty of insight about how HP is challenging Epson, and some thoughts about Canon's emergence, then absence in the mid range fine art market. Derrick Story chats with Rick during a visit to San Francisco.

Review: Boss Micro BR Palmtop Recording Studio
At just over 3x5 inches, the Boss Micro BR is a digital recording studio you can use anywhere. It records up to 32 tracks, has a built-in mic and drum machine, and even plays your MP3s. Can it possibly work at just $229 street? Reviewer Gina Fant-Saez finds out.

Mac

IrishSetterBuilding Custom iQuiz Data
iQuiz is a brand new, flashy iPod game from Apple that allows users to create custom games and run them using the iQuiz interface. In this tutorial, Erica Sadun shows how to create custom iQuiz files and provides sample code and files.

Customizing TextMate
TextMate is one of the most popular text editors among Mac developers, in part due to how much you can customize the powerful program. James Edward Gray II recently wrote "TextMate: Power Editing for the Mac" and presents this article on creating an RPN calculator in TextMate as an example of how to do complex TextMate customizations.

Microsoft/.NET

TunaPreston Gralla on Vista
Safari recently interviewed Preston Gralla, author of "Windows Vista in a Nutshell." He's authored over 30 books and countless articles for publications ranging from PC Magazine to the Los Angeles Times. He's a frequent guest on TV and radio shows covering technology and has appeared on CNN, MSNBC, and NPR.

Installing and Configuring ISA 2006
Internet Security and Acceleration Server (ISA) 2006, Microsoft's latest release of its popular web proxy and security suite, has become a full-blown perimeter security solution for both small and large networks. Chris Sanders shows you how to set it up and configure it for best performance.

Why Do ASP.NET Programmers Need to Learn CSS?
ASP.NET has not been great at controlling the layout of elements on a web page. Dan Hurwitz and Jesse Liberty show you how to gain precise controls over presentation with Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). They argue that programmers who embrace CSS as their own, rather than thinking of it as an esoteric skill of designers, place themselves ahead of the pack.

Java

FoxInterview with Tim Bray: Atom, JRuby, and the Ecumenical Sun
Tim Bray recently took some time out of his hectic schedule to talk to the O'Reilly Network about his current work on the Atom protocol, his views on JRuby, and Sun's evolving Web strategy. Find out what is on Tim's mind these days.

An Interview with Robert Brewin
What happens when you get the CTO of Sun and the editor of OnJava in the same room at JavaOne? A short but informative interview for the OnJava readers about JavaFX Script, JavaFX Mobile, and the future of the Java platform.

Web

beesPittMFUG Pittsburgh Adobe Flash Users Group Chats with Author Colin Moock
Pittsburgh Adobe Flash Users Group interviewed Colin Moock about his upcoming book "Essential ActionScript 3." Listen to the podcast.

Besiege Your Web Application--Load Testing over HTTP
Paul explains how to test your web apps to ensure they can handle heavy user demand.

JavaScript and Screenreaders
Kevin Yank take a look at how Web Developers can make their sites accessible to users who use screenreaders.

Until next time—
Marsee Henon
Spreading the knowledge of innovators.O'Reilly.com



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