As I mentioned at our last IRC meeting, we have some opportunities for free stuff, event discounts, and other cool things through O'Reilly in exchange for doing things like writing thoughtful reviews of their books.  Here is this month's newsletter on things to pay attention to.  Let me know if you are interested in reviewing a book (or have done so already), or have any questions. -- Tony Yarusso <a href="http://tonyyarusso.com/">http://tonyyarusso.com/</a> <div class="gmail_quote">---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Marsee Henon <<a href="mailto:marsee@oreilly.com">marsee@oreilly.com</a>> Date: Jan 25, 2008 12:41 PM Subject: Newsletter from O'Reilly UG Program, January 25 To: <a href="mailto:tonyyarusso@ubuntu.com">tonyyarusso@ubuntu.com</a> Hi there, Just out this week is our new web site InsideRIA.com <<a href="http://www.insideria.com/" target="_blank">http://www.insideria.com/</a>>, an online community developed by O'Reilly and sponsored by Adobe Systems Incorporated. Our goal is to create an invaluable resource for information on the ever-changing state of design and development of rich Internet applications (RIAs). Live from Macworld, Lorene Romero of the North Coast Mac Users Group wants cutting and pasting on an iPhone in this "Missing Features" video post: <<a href="http://www.oreillynet.com/missingfeature/blog/2008/01/cutting_and_pasting_on_an_ipho.html" target="_blank">http://www.oreillynet.com/missingfeature/blog/2008/01/cutting_and_pasting_on_an_ipho.html</a>> Here are more "Missing Features" videos including David Pogue and Derrick Story: <<a href="http://www.oreillynet.com/missingfeature/blog/" target="_blank">http://www.oreillynet.com/missingfeature/blog/</a>> Headed to SDWest? Make sure you stop by the O'Reilly booth and say hi. Free Expo passes are available for the upcoming Southwest Developer Conference & Expo (West). Register at <<a href="http://www.sdexpo.com" target="_blank">http://www.sdexpo.com</a>> with the priority code 8WEXH81 by February 27 to get a free expo pass good for admission to the expo floor, all keynote presentations, the opening floor party, the Developer Bowl, and more. Are you attending PyCon in Chicago in March? I'm going to be at the O'Reilly booth in the expo hall. Let me know if you're going to be around. Registration just opened <<a href="http://us.pycon.org/2008/about/" target="_blank">http://us.pycon.org/2008/about/</a>>. Marsee P.S. If you haven't already, check out the O'Reilly bookstore on Amazon <<a href="http://tinyurl.com/366u24" target="_blank">http://tinyurl.com/366u24</a>>. ================================================================ O'Reilly UG Program News--Just for User Group Leaders January 25, 2008 ================================================================ ***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: ***Graphing Social Patterns West <<a href="http://ug.oreilly.com/banners/gsp/index.csp" target="_blank">http://ug.oreilly.com/banners/gsp/index.csp</a>> ***Emerging Technology Conference Banners  <<a href="http://ug.oreilly.com/banners/etech/" target="_blank">http://ug.oreilly.com/banners/etech/</a>> ***Tools of Change Conference Banners <<a href="http://ug.oreilly.com/banners/toc/" target="_blank">http://ug.oreilly.com/banners/toc/</a>> ***RailsConf 2008 <<a href="http://ug.oreilly.com/banners/railsconf/" target="_blank">http://ug.oreilly.com/banners/railsconf/</a>> ***MySQL Users Conference 2008 <<a href="http://ug.oreilly.com/banners/mysql/index.csp" target="_blank">http://ug.oreilly.com/banners/mysql/index.csp</a>> ***35% off User Group Discount Banner <<a href="http://ug.oreilly.com/banners/discount/" target="_blank">http://ug.oreilly.com/banners/discount/</a>> ***35% off Digital Media User Group banners <<a href="http://ug.oreilly.com/banners/creativemedia/index.csp" target="_blank">http://ug.oreilly.com/banners/creativemedia/index.csp</a>> ================================================================ O'Reilly News for User Group Members January 25, 2008 ================================================================ --------------------------------------------------------------- New Releases--Books, Short Cuts, and Rough Cuts ---------------------------------------------------------------- Get 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. <<a href="http://www.oreilly.com/store/" target="_blank">http://www.oreilly.com/store/</a>> Free ground shipping on orders of $29.95 or more. For more details, go to: <<a href="http://www.oreilly.com/news/freeshipping_0703.html" target="_blank">http://www.oreilly.com/news/freeshipping_0703.html</a>> 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: <<a href="http://ug.oreilly.com/bookreviews.html" target="_blank">http://ug.oreilly.com/bookreviews.html</a>> ***Ajax: The Definitive Guide ISBN 10: 0596528388 <<a href="http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9780596528386" target="_blank">http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9780596528386</a>> ***The Art & Science of JavaScript (SitePoint) ISBN 10: 0980285844 <<a href="http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9780980285840" target="_blank">http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9780980285840</a>> ***Augmented Reality @ Home (Pragmatic Bookshelf) ISBN 10: 1934356034 <<a href="http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9781934356036" target="_blank">http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9781934356036</a>> ***The Book of Wireless (No Starch) ISBN 10: 1593271697 <<a href="http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9781593271695" target="_blank">http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9781593271695</a>> ***Building a Web 2.0 Portal with <a href="http://ASP.NET" target="_blank">ASP.NET</a> 3.5 ISBN 10: 0596510500 <<a href="http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9780596510503" target="_blank">http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9780596510503</a>> ***Facebook: The Missing Manual ISBN 10: 0596517696 <<a href="http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9780596517694" target="_blank">http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9780596517694</a>> ***iPhoto '08: The Missing Manual ISBN 10: 0596516185 <<a href="http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9780596516185" target="_blank">http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9780596516185</a>> ***Learning ActionScript 3.0 ISBN 10: 059652787X <<a href="http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9780596527877" target="_blank">http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9780596527877</a>> ***Programming C# 3.0, Fifth Edition ISBN 10: 0596527438  <<a href="http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9780596527433" target="_blank">http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9780596527433</a>> ***The Ruby Programming Language ISBN 10: 0596516177 <<a href="http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9780596516178" target="_blank">http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9780596516178</a>> ***Visualizing Data ISBN 10: 0596514557 <<a href="http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9780596514556" target="_blank">http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9780596514556</a>> ***Wikipedia: The Missing Manual ISBN-10: 0596515162 <<a href="http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9780596515164" target="_blank">http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9780596515164</a>> ***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: <<a href="http://www.makezine.com/go/ugsub" target="_blank">http://www.makezine.com/go/ugsub</a>> ***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--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: <<a href="http://www.craftzine.com/go/craftug" target="_blank">http://www.craftzine.com/go/craftug</a>> ================================================ Upcoming Events ================================================ For more events, please see:  <<a href="http://events.oreilly.com/" target="_blank">http://events.oreilly.com/</a>> ***Money:Tech, New York City, New York--Feb 6-7, 2008 The inaugural O'Reilly Money:Tech conference will raise the level of conversation around technology advances in the investment industry, bringing together innovators with established players to increase adoption and awareness and push the technology forward. <<a href="http://conferences.oreilly.com/money/" target="_blank">http://conferences.oreilly.com/money/</a>> ***Dru Lavigne and Allison Randal Speak at Southern California Linux   Expo,Los Angeles, CA--Feb 8-10 Authors Dru Lavigne (BSD Hacks) and Allison Randal (Perl 6 & Parrot Essentials) will be speaking at the Southern California Linux Expo from February 8-10, 2008. Located in Los Angeles, the conference draws many qualified speakers and exhibitors, and Dru & Alison will be speaking as part of the Women in Open Source Track. <<a href="http://socallinuxexpo.org/scale6x/conference-info/schedules/" target="_blank">http://socallinuxexpo.org/scale6x/conference-info/schedules/</a>> ***Tools of Change for Publishing Conference (TOC), New York City,   New York--Feb 11-13 The Tools of Change for Publishing (TOC) Conference explores how technology is influencing the future of publishing, sparking creativity and inspiring conversation for leading change in the industry. <<a href="http://www.toccon.com" target="_blank">http://www.toccon.com</a>> ================================================ Conference News ================================================ ***OSCON 2008 Call for Participation O'Reilly Media is seeking proposals from people in tune with the heartbeat of open source. <<a href="http://en.oreilly.com/oscon2008/public/cfp/13" target="_blank">http://en.oreilly.com/oscon2008/public/cfp/13</a>> ***Ubuntu Live 2008 Call for Participation This is your opportunity to present your experiences of working with Ubuntu to a knowledgeable audience that is keen to learn more and participate. <<a href="http://en.oreilly.com/ubuntu2008/public/cfp/12" target="_blank">http://en.oreilly.com/ubuntu2008/public/cfp/12</a>> ***O'Reilly GSP West Conference--San Diego, CA--March 3-4 This two-day conference presents a behind-the-scenes look at the business and technology of social networking platforms. With MySpace, Facebook, and Flickr attracting millions of visitors each day, the implications for business, marketing, and software developers are enormous. <<a href="http://conferences.oreilly.com/gspwest/" target="_blank">http://conferences.oreilly.com/gspwest/</a>> Use code "gspw08usrg" when you register, and receive 15% off the early registration price. To register for the conference, go to: <<a href="http://en.oreilly.com/gspwest2008/public/content/register" target="_blank">http://en.oreilly.com/gspwest2008/public/content/register</a>> ***Register for O'Reilly Money:Tech Conference, New York, NY--    February 6-7 Your key to hacking Wall Street, giving you new data, new tools, and new approaches to money and investing. <<a href="http://conferences.oreilly.com/money/" target="_blank">http://conferences.oreilly.com/money/</a>> Use code "mt08usgr" when you register, and receive 15% off the early registration price. To register for the conference, go to: <<a href="https://en.oreilly.com/money2008/user/account/signup/attendee" target="_blank">https://en.oreilly.com/money2008/user/account/signup/attendee</a>> ****Web Expo SF Registration is Open, San Francisco, CA--Apr 22-25 A companion event to the Web 2.0 Summit, Web 2.0 Expo is an expanded, inclusive gathering for the technology and business communities through a combined conference and trade show. Use code "websf08ug" when you register and receive $100 off any conference package or a free expo hall pass. To register for the conference, go to: <<a href="http://conferences.oreilly.com/etech/" target="_blank">http://conferences.oreilly.com/etech/</a>> ***Registration for ETech Open, San Diego, CA--March 3-6 Body hacking. DIY spectrum. Crowd visualization. Sensor games. ETech 2008 will explore the tech that's influencing how we're seen as individuals and what affects our perception of the world around us. <<a href="http://conferences.oreilly.com/etech/" target="_blank">http://conferences.oreilly.com/etech/</a>> Use code "et08usrg" when you register and receive 15% off the early registration price. To register for the conference, go to: <<a href="http://en.oreilly.com/et2008/public/content/register" target="_blank">http://en.oreilly.com/et2008/public/content/register</a>> ***Registration for TOC Open, New York, NY--February 11-13 Technology is transforming publishing. Are you ready for the future? This conference is a must attend event for anyone interested in shaping the future of the business of books. <<a href="http://www.toccon.com" target="_blank">http://www.toccon.com</a>> Use code "toc08usrg" when you register, and receive 15% off the early registration price. To register for the conference, go to: <<a href="http://en.oreilly.com/toc2008/public/content/register" target="_blank">http://en.oreilly.com/toc2008/public/content/register</a>> ***2008 MySQL Conference & Expo Registration is Open--    Santa Clara, CA--April 14-17 The largest gathering of MySQL developers, users, and DBAs worldwide, the event reflects MySQL's wide-ranging appeal and capabilities. The open atmosphere of the MySQL Conference & Expo helps IT professionals and community members to create the best database applications, tools, and software through expert instruction, hands-on tutorials, readily available MySQL developers, and guru business advice. Use code "mys08usrg" when you register, and receive 15% off the early registration price. To register for the conference, go to: <<a href="http://en.oreilly.com/toc2008/public/content/register" target="_blank">http://en.oreilly.com/toc2008/public/content/register</a>> ================================================ O'Reilly School of Technology ================================================ ***O'Reilly School of Technology Courses: UG Members Receive     a 30% Discount O'Reilly School of Technology has opened its virtual doors with educational offerings and certification for IT students looking to further their careers or to launch one. 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 #2 of the enrollment process. Each course comes with a free O'Reilly book and a 7-day money-back guarantee.  Register online: <<a href="http://www.oreillyschool.com/?CMP=BAC-ostug" target="_blank">http://www.oreillyschool.com/?CMP=BAC-ostug</a>> ================================================ News From O'Reilly & Beyond ================================================ --------------------- UG News --------------------- ******Call For Makers: Maker Faire Bay Area 2008--Entry deadline is      March 12, 2008 Make Magazine is now accepting entries for the Maker Faire Bay Area, May 3 and 4 at the San Mateo County Fairgrounds. Entries are due March 12, 2008. Space is limited, please submit your entry early! Maker Faire tryouts are February 17 at the Exploratorium in San Francisco noon– 4pm. Accepted entries will be notified by March 19. Entry form, tryout details, and more can be found online. <<a href="http://makerfaire.com/bayarea/2008/callformakers/" target="_blank">http://makerfaire.com/bayarea/2008/callformakers/</a>> ***PyCon registration opening soon--Looking for Python-related projects   for Expo Hall For those projects working with or using Python, registration for PyCon is open. There was a record turnout for tutorial and talk proposals--this looks to be the best PyCon yet. If your project uses Python, now would be a great time to get involved. This year's PyCon will feature a two-day Expo Hall with free booths for non-profits and open source projects. If you would like to get in on the fun, more information is at <<a href="http://us.pycon.org/2008/" target="_blank">http://us.pycon.org/2008/</a>>. If your group would like to participate in the Expo Hall, email <a href="mailto:pycon-sponsors@python.org">pycon-sponsors@python.org</a> for more information. ***Greg Wilson at Amazon Amazon features a Video of "Beautiful Code" Editor Greg Wilson giving a presentation at Amazon. <<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Beautiful-Code-Leading-Programmers-Practice/dp/0596510047" target="_blank">http://www.amazon.com/Beautiful-Code-Leading-Programmers-Practice/dp/0596510047</a>> ***O'Reilly and Safari Books Online are JOLT Award Finalists Safari Books Online and O'Reilly Radar are two of the six finalists in Web Sites/Developer Networks category. Finalists in General Books category include, "The Myths of Innovation" and "Beautiful Code" (both in Safari Books Online) category and "Head First SQL" is finalist in technical books category. <<a href="http://www.joltawards.com/finalists.html" target="_blank">http://www.joltawards.com/finalists.html</a>> ***New Rough Cuts Community Features in Safari Books Online Safari recently upgraded our interactive publishing service, Rough Cuts manuscripts-in-progress, to include online community features such as comment viewing and posting. Available to Safari Library subscribers, Rough Cuts enables you to stay at the forefront of technology innovation and the ability to engage with peers and world-renown authors.  Check out Rough Cuts today and start getting ahead. <<a href="http://www.oreilly.com/roughcuts/" target="_blank">http://www.oreilly.com/roughcuts/</a>> ***DIY O'Reilly Gear Create Your Own Calendar, Shirt, Notebook, Poster...In just three easy steps you can create one of a kind calendars, greeting cards, keychains, luggage tags, magnets, mousepads, mugs, notebooks, postcards, posters, shirts, hoodies, and stickers adorned with your favorite O'Reilly animals. <<a href="http://www.qoop.com/photobooks/photofront/pub_store.php?pub_name=oreilly" target="_blank">http://www.qoop.com/photobooks/photofront/pub_store.php?pub_name=oreilly</a>> --------------------- Articles --------------------- ***How to Tell Your Perl Story (at OSCON) Have you done something stunningly cool or staggeringly useful with Perl in the past year? Conference season will be here soon; it's time to consider giving a talk to your local monger group, a regional conference, or even OSCON. Perl track committee member brian d foy gives several guidelines to help you decide what to talk about and how to present it. <<a href="http://www.perl.com/pub/a/2008/01/18/how-to-tell-your-perl-story.html" target="_blank">http://www.perl.com/pub/a/2008/01/18/how-to-tell-your-perl-story.html</a>> ***Creating Games in Ruby Nearly every developer fosters a secret desire to create cool video games, but for most of us, the barriers to entry (knowing how to create performant graphics code) has kept us out of the game. But there are several toolkits for Ruby that can get you on your way without a Ph.D. Part 1: <<a href="http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/ruby/2007/12/04/creating-games-in-ruby.html" target="_blank">http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/ruby/2007/12/04/creating-games-in-ruby.html</a>> Part 2: <<a href="http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/ruby/2007/12/18/creating-games-in-ruby-part-2.html" target="_blank">http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/ruby/2007/12/18/creating-games-in-ruby-part-2.html</a>> ***Administering MySQL Using Flex Adobe's Flex offers a rich client-side user experience, but how do you use it to create practical applications. In this article, you'll see how to hook Flex up to a PHP backend to do some simple MySQL administration. <<a href="http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/onlamp/2008/01/15/administering-mysql-using-flex.html" target="_blank">http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/onlamp/2008/01/15/administering-mysql-using-flex.html</a>> ***Joe Schorr on Leopard & Apeture Derrick Story interviews Senior Product Manager Joe Schorr, on some of the most enticing and useful features for Aperture photographers. <<a href="http://digitalmedia.oreilly.com/2008/01/08/joe-schorr-on-leopard-and-aperture.html" target="_blank">http://digitalmedia.oreilly.com/2008/01/08/joe-schorr-on-leopard-and-aperture.html</a>> ***Less is More: Steve Jobs' Macworld 2008 Keynote Address Steve Jobs opened the Macworld surprise envelope at the 2008 keynote address and out slid a sleek notebook computer: the Macbook Air. Daniel Steinberg was on hand for the unveiling and files this report about all the new hardware, iPhone updates, and more. <<a href="http://digitalmedia.oreilly.com/2008/01/17/macworld-2008.html" target="_blank">http://digitalmedia.oreilly.com/2008/01/17/macworld-2008.html</a>> ***LILO and GRUB: Boot Loaders Made Simple LILO and Grub are the most popular Linux bootloaders. Usually, your Linux distribution chooses and configures one or the other for you, but this article provides a handy comparison of the two, and offers some troubleshooting and configuration tips if you ever want to do it by hand. <<a href="http://www.linuxdevcenter.com/pub/a/linux/2008/01/22/lilo-and-grub-boot-loaders-made-simple.html" target="_blank">http://www.linuxdevcenter.com/pub/a/linux/2008/01/22/lilo-and-grub-boot-loaders-made-simple.html</a>> ***The Art & Science of JavaScript In this tutorial, we'll look at a technique for using CSS and JavaScript to build a first-person-perspective maze, in homage to old-school adventure games like Dungeon Master and Doom. <<a href="http://www.sitepoint.com/article/art-science-javascript" target="_blank">http://www.sitepoint.com/article/art-science-javascript</a>> For more articles, go to: <<a href="http://www.oreillynet.com/" target="_blank">http://www.oreillynet.com/</a>> --------------------- Blogs ------------------- ***A Year in O'Reilly Books (2007) from Tim O'Reilly <<a href="http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2008/01/a_year_in_oreilly_books.html" target="_blank">http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2008/01/a_year_in_oreilly_books.html</a>> ***HF JavaScript: Learn Outside the Book <<a href="http://www.oreillynet.com/headfirst/blog/2008/01/hf_javascript_learn_outside_th.html#more" target="_blank">http://www.oreillynet.com/headfirst/blog/2008/01/hf_javascript_learn_outside_th.html#more</a>> ***Scott Kelby--Katrin's New Book is a Winner, and I Know Eight People   I'm Sending a Copy to This Week. <<a href="http://www.scottkelby.com/blog/2008/archives/939" target="_blank">http://www.scottkelby.com/blog/2008/archives/939</a>> ***Freaking Multitudes of .htaccess great balls of fire <<a href="http://blogs.oreilly.com/digitalmedia/2007/12/freaking-multitudes-of-htacces.html" target="_blank">http://blogs.oreilly.com/digitalmedia/2007/12/freaking-multitudes-of-htacces.html</a>> ***Windows Mobile Weekly Roundup <<a href="http://www.oreillynet.com/windows/blog/2008/01/windows_mobile_weekly_roundup_71.html" target="_blank">http://www.oreillynet.com/windows/blog/2008/01/windows_mobile_weekly_roundup_71.html</a>> ***TMTOWTDI -> The Right Way to Do It <<a href="http://www.oreillynet.com/onlamp/blog/2008/01/tmtowtdi_the_right_way_to_do_i.html" target="_blank">http://www.oreillynet.com/onlamp/blog/2008/01/tmtowtdi_the_right_way_to_do_i.html</a>> ***PhoneValet & iPhone: Instant Landline Voice Mail <<a href="http://blogs.oreilly.com/digitalmedia/2008/01/phonevalet-iphone-instant-land.html" target="_blank">http://blogs.oreilly.com/digitalmedia/2008/01/phonevalet-iphone-instant-land.html</a>> ***Thoughts on Firefox 3.0 <<a href="http://www.oreillynet.com/xml/blog/2008/01/thoughts_on_firefox_30.html" target="_blank">http://www.oreillynet.com/xml/blog/2008/01/thoughts_on_firefox_30.html</a>> ***What Do You Want to Read from Head First Authors? <<a href="http://www.oreillynet.com/headfirst/blog/2008/01/what_do_you_want_to_hear_from.html#more" target="_blank">http://www.oreillynet.com/headfirst/blog/2008/01/what_do_you_want_to_hear_from.html#more</a>> ***Presents for Under Your Tree (for next year) <<a href="http://www.oreillynet.com/headfirst/blog/2007/12/presents_for_under_your_tree_f.html" target="_blank">http://www.oreillynet.com/headfirst/blog/2007/12/presents_for_under_your_tree_f.html</a>> For more blogs, go to: <<a href="http://www.oreillynet.com/blogs/" target="_blank">http://www.oreillynet.com/blogs/</a>> Until next time-- Marsee Henon ================================================================ O'Reilly  1005 Gravenstein Highway North   Sebastopol, CA   95472 <a href="http://ug.oreilly.com/" target="_blank">http://ug.oreilly.com/</a>  <a href="http://ug.oreilly.com/creativemedia/" target="_blank">http://ug.oreilly.com/creativemedia/</a> ================================================================ </div>