[mdlug] President's mail bag - O'Reilly News

Sat Apr 18 18:17:23 EDT 2009

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O'Reilly News for User Group Members
April 16, 2009
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New Releases--Books, Short Cuts, and Rough Cuts
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Get 35% off from O'Reilly, No Starch, Paraglyph, PC Publishing,
Pragmatic Bookshelf, Rocky Nook, SitePoint, or YoungJin books and ebooks
you purchase directly from O'Reilly. Just use code DSUG when ordering
online or by phone 800-998-9938.
<http://www.oreilly.com/store/>

Free ground shipping on orders of $29.95 or more.
For more details, go to:
<http://www.oreilly.com/news/freeshipping_0703.html>

Did you know you can request a free book, ebook, 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:

Beautiful Security
<http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9780596527488>

Cloud Application Architectures
<http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9780596156367>

Colin Moock's Lost ActionScript 3.0 Weekend Course 1
<http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9780596801571>

Colin Moock's Lost ActionScript 3.0 Weekend Course 2
<http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9780596801595>

Computer Orchestration Tips and Tricks (PC Publishing)
<http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9781906005054>

Gray Hat Python (No Starch)
<http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9781593271923>

iMovie '09 and iDVD: The Missing Manual
<http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9780596801410>

iPhone Hacks
<http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9780596516642>

iPhoto '09: The Missing Manual
<http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9780596801441>

Learning Flash CS4 Professional
<http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9780596159764>

Learning SQL, Second Edition
<http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9780596520830>

Practical Programming (Pragmatic Bookshelf)
<http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9781934356272>

Programming Clojure (Pragmatic Bookshelf)
<http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9781934356333>

Programming Ruby 1.9 (Pragmatic Bookshelf)
<http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9781934356081>

Sound Equalization Tips and Tricks (PC Publishing)
<http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9781906005092>

The DAM Book, Second Edition
<http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9780596523572>

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>

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Upcoming Author Events
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For more events, please see:
<http://events.oreilly.com/>

Dux Raymond Sy presents "5 Ways to Enhance SharePoint Site Usability" at
SharePoint Saturday Atlanta
Apr 18, 2009
Microsoft Atlanta
Alpharetta, GA, USA
SharePoint is unlike existing technologies users are familiar with. In
certain cases, out of the box SharePoint site interface and layout is
not as intuitive to the greater user community. In this presentation
from Dux Raymond Sy (SharePoint for Project Management), you will
acquire the practical knowledge of improving SharePoint usability to
increase user adoption in leveraging SharePoint for collaboration.
<http://www.sharepointsaturday.org/atlanta>

Allison Randal at BALUG
Apr 21, 2009
San Francisco, CA
Allison Randal (Perl 6 and Parrot Essentials) is chief architect and
lead developer of the open source project Parrot. She also works for
O'Reilly Media, planning the program for their Open Source Convention
(OSCON).
<http://www.balug.org/>

O'Reilly Authors at JSConf 2009
Apr 24-25, 2009
Hotel Palomar
Arlington, VA
Meet industry experts and learn how to use JavaScript to build cutting
edge mobile, desktop, server and web applications. Author Chris Anderson
(Couchdb: The Definitive Guide Rough Cuts Version) will walk attendees
through hello world with CouchApps and explain new possibilities they
open up; author Andrew Turner (Introduction to Neogeography) will
discuss the ability to script real-world events and behaviors such as
traffic patterns, pedestrians, urban situations, warfare simulations,
and vehicle testing.
<http://www.jsconf2009.com/speakers.html>

Ben Fry at Western Mass Developers Group
May 5, 2009
243 King St
Northampton, MA
Author Ben Fry (Visualizing Data) will be presenting "Computational
Information Design"--a mix of his work in visualization and coding, plus
just a quick introduction/mention of Processing.
<http://wmassdevs.com/wordpress/>

George Heineman Presents "Algorithms Unleashed: A Practical Approach to
Programming Algorithms"
May 9, 2009
MIT Tang Center/E51-345
Cambridge, MA, USA
The Greater Boston Chapter of the ACM will sponsor a full-day seminar by
George Heineman, co-author of Algorithms in a Nutshell. This seminar is
designed for software practitioners, programmers, and designers. Here
you will find algorithmic templates to solve common problems that arise
in many types of software systems. You will learn how to evaluate
trade-offs between algorithms and how to test whether the algorithm is
working correctly in your system.
<http://www.gbcacm.org/b2b/algorithms2009/>

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Conferences and Special Events
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User Group Discount Information for our upcoming conferences:

OSCON 2009
July 20-24, 2009
San Jose, CA
<http://conferences.oreilly.com/oscon>

The 2009 O'Reilly Open Source Convention Moves to San Jose, CA--
Registration Now Open, So Make Your Plans

Use code "os09usrg" when you register, and receive 20% off
the registration price. Early registration ends on June 2.

To register for the conference, go to:
<https://en.oreilly.com/oscon2009/public/register?CMP=EMC-conf_os09_int&ATT=UG2>

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O'Reilly Velocity Conference
June 22-24, 2009
The Fairmont San Jose, San Jose, CA
<http://conferences.oreilly.com/velocity>

Attending Velocity makes you competitive immediately because it is
rooted in practical application, sending you back to work with a deeper
understanding of how the technology and applications you deploy can
accelerate performance and deliver a better front end experience.

Use code "vel09usrg" when you register, and receive 20% off
the registration price. Early registration ends on May 3.

To register for the conference, go to:
<https://en.oreilly.com/velocity2009/public/register>

For a complete list of conferences, go to:
http://conferences.oreilly.com/

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Ignite
If you had five minutes on stage what would you say? What if you only
got 20 slides and they rotated automatically after 15 seconds? Around
the world geeks have been putting together Ignite nights to show their
answers.

Create your own Ignite in your area
<http://ignite.oreilly.com/faq/how-to.html>

Upcoming Ignite events:

Ignite Santa Fe
April 29, 2009
624 Agua Fria
Santa Fe NM, USA
http://ignite.oreilly.com/2009/03/ignite-santa-fe.html

Ignite Sydney 2
May 14, 2009
2-4 Oxford St
Darlinghurst NSW, Australia
http://ignite.oreilly.com/2009/04/announcing-ignite-sydney-2.html

For more events, go to <http://ignite.oreilly.com/>

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O'Reilly School of Technology
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O'Reilly School of Technology Courses: UG Members Receive
a 30% Discount

By enrolling in the O'Reilly School of Technology, you can stay
competitive in Information Technology without the high cost or huge time
commitment. Our courses work around YOUR schedule, not the other way
around. And within months, not only will you have the University of
Illinois Certificate to display on your resume, you'll also have a
portfolio of projects that are sure to impress in your interviews!

OST's full-price tuitions are already lower than comparable continuing
education or community college courses. However, as an O'Reilly User
Group member, you save an additional 30% on all the courses in the
following University of Illinois Certificate Series:

-New--Database Administration Certificate
-Java Programming
-PHP/SQL Programming
-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:
<http://www.oreillyschool.com/?CMP=BAC-ostug>

(This discount is not combinable with other offers.)

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News From O'Reilly & Beyond
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News & Blogs
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Learn to Build iPhone Apps in 2 days with O'Reilly's New Workshop

If you have familiarity with the Mac and basic experience with
object-oriented programming (such as Java or Visual Studio), you have
what it takes to build today's most popular--and lucrative--
applications. Instructor Joe Heck, iPhone app developer from Walt Disney
Interactive Media Group, will quickly get you up to speed on the basics,
including the Cocoa programming environment, Xcode suite of tools, the
Objective-C language, and a new tool to help you debug your
applications. During the workshop, you'll create two real iPhone apps,
compile them, and install them on a device.

Dates and locations:

* May 16 & 17 in San Francisco
* June 27 & 28 in Chicago
* August 8 & 9 in Los Angeles
* September 19 & 20 in Seattle

User Group members receive a 30% discount with code DSUG when
you register online <http://training.oreilly.com/introiphoneapp/>

2 Upcoming Webcasts--XBRL and How to Build a Lean Startup

We have upcoming webcasts you will not want to miss! Join us April 22nd
for XBRL: the what, why and who... - learn from Charlie Hoffman,
credited as the "Father of XBRL." And on May 1st, Eric Ries presents How
to Build a Lean Startup, step-by-step. Register online or watch past
webcasts at <http://oreilly.com/webcasts/>

BarCamp Boston 4, Cambridge, MA--April 25th and 26th

BarCamp is an unConference, organized on the fly by attendees, for
attendees. There is no registration fee, but you don't just attend a
BarCamp--you can participate in discussions, demo your projects, or join
into another cooperative event. Topics may include, but are not limited
to: open source software, startups, UI design, entrepreneurship, AJAX,
hardware hacking, robotics, mobile computing, bioinformatics, RSS,
Social Software, programming languages, and the future of technology.
<http://www.barcampboston.org/>

Open Source Bridge, Portland, OR--June 17-19

Open Source Bridge is a new conference for developers working with open
source technologies. It will take place June 17-19 in Portland, OR, with
five tracks connecting people across projects, languages, and experience
to explore how we do our work, and why we participate in open source.
The conference structure is designed to provide developers with an
opportunity to learn from people they might not connect with at other
events. Open Source Bridge is intended as a call to action to become
better citizens, by sharing our knowledge with each other.  All members
of User Groups are entitled to a substantial discount on registration.
Find out more at:
<http://opensourcebridge.org/volunteer/for-user-groups/>

Submit your proposal:
<http://www.opensourcebridge.org/proposals>

Cloud Computing--an Excerpt from Cloud Application Architectures

The hallmark of any buzzword is its ability to convey the appearance of
meaning without conveying actual meaning. To many people, the term cloud
computing has the feel of a buzzword. In this excerpt from Cloud
Application Architectures, author George Reese explains just what the
cloud is--in terms anyone can understand--and why it has value to your
organization.
<http://fyi.oreilly.com/2009/04/cloud-computing--an-excerpt-fr.html>

New O'Reilly Insights on Forbes--Joshua-Michele Ross on Why Business
Needs to Get Social

"There is a reason that the word "social" is being applied as a prefix
everywhere--from social media, social computing and the social Web to
social capital and the social enterprise," writes Joshua-Michele Ross in
a new O'Reilly Insights column on Forbes.com. "Why is our society
massively adopting social technologies? Because we can." In the column,
Ross explores how new social technologies are changing the way business
is conducted. Find out if you agree with Ross' views.
<http://www.forbes.com/2009/04/13/social-networking-oreilly-technology-breakthroughs-oreilly.html>

Safari Books Online lets you carry around over 7,000 books in your
pocket
The new website, m.safaribooksonline.com, optimizes Safari Books
Online's content and reading experience for the majority of mobile
phones (such as Nokia, BlackBerry, iPhone, and Windows Mobile), making
it possible for users to read while on-the-go.
The streamlined interface includes the most popular features such as
basic search, advanced search, bookmarks, and favorites.  Also included
is new functionality like "Last viewed page"  and "Last search" for
quick access from your cell phone or mobile device.
<http://my.safaribooksonline.com/whatsnew>

Guess the Book, Episode Two - Back on the Streets of Sebastopol

This second episode of Guess the Book leads Sara Peyton and her trusty
videographer, armed with a copy of Programming ASP.NET 3.5, to the
offices of a local newspaper where one willing volunteer attempts to
decipher the book's cover. Now it's your turn to help out--which book
should we use for our next episode and why?
<http://fyi.oreilly.com/2009/04/guess-the-book-episode-two---back-on-the-streets-of-sebastopol.html>

Did Cartoonist Robert Crumb Predict Twitter? An Excerpt from Twitter
API: Up and Running

Face it. Few of us can resist Twitter's magnetic tug. We want more and
more. And now you can indulge your Twitter addiction with a new book
from O'Reilly, Twitter API: Up and Running by Kevin Makice. The new book
gives you the skills and resources necessary to build web apps for
Twitter. And to whet your appetite we offer a brief excerpt and this
question. Did cartoonist Robert Crumb predict Twitter?
<http://fyi.oreilly.com/2009/04/a-brief-history-of-microbloggi.html>

Until next time--

Marsee Henon

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