Welcome to the latest Apress User Group newsletter!
Please forward or post this newsletter for all group members.

I am pleased to have Apress Editor Jonathan Gennick contributing to this newsletter.

Likewise, it’s a pleasure to introduce Apress’s September 2007 User Group newsletter. User groups are a powerful, grass-roots mechanism to help people grow in their careers, and in the knowledge and skills that it takes to accomplish their goals. It’s exciting to me that Apress is involved in so many ways. In the events section of this newsletter, you’ll read about code camps, presentations on new and timely topics such as Grails and Flex, and more. One of the things I’ve always liked about working in the technology industry is that there is so much opportunity for creativity and to learn new things. There’s a lot to learn, and user groups are at the forefront of helping people learn what they need to know to become successful.

Books represent another way for people to keep up with ever-changing technology, and I’m proud to say that Apress has a number of interesting books planned for publication this fall. One that is only just released, and that I’m particularly proud of, is Pro Active Record: Databases with Ruby and Rails by Kevin Marshall, Chad Pytel, and Jon Yurek. It’s the first book to dive deeply into the use of Active Record, the database library that is a key part of the Ruby on Rails framework. The ability to publish on such deep and meaty topics is one of the facets of working at Apress that I value the most. But Apress has more than one book in the works. I hope you’ll check them all out in the “Forthcoming Titles” section to follow.

Also in this newsletter is information on upcoming conferences and trade shows, and some user group program news. It’s all about sharing the knowledge. To that end, we hope this newsletter is useful. Please don’t hesitate to let us know what we can do to make it more so.

-- Jonathan Gennick, Apress Editor

In this issue:

1. Apress UG Program News—Just for User Group Leaders
2. User Group Events Recently Supported by Apress
3. Bookpool Sale: 50% off All Apress Titles for the Entire Month of October
4. Apress Authors to Speak at Business of Software 2007
5. Upcoming Tradeshows
6. Featured Titles from Apress
7. Featured Titles from friends of ED
8. Forthcoming Apress and friends of ED Titles
9. User Group FAQ
   

1. Apress UG Program News—Just for User Group Leaders

The New Fall Apress Catalog!

We have just published our first User Group catalog, featuring books publishing from July 2007 to January 2008. If you wish to receive some to distribute to your group, please let me know.

Update Your User Group Info

Just a quick reminder that if there have been any significant changes to group information, please take a moment to send me updates. This might include a change in e-mail or shipping address (very important!), or a change in group leader or president, book review policy, etc. Please help me keep my records up to date and ensure you get your review copies delivered to the right place.E-mail me at cheryl.martinez@apress.com.

Put Up the New UG Banner, Get a Free eBook

Check out the newly designed “Apress User Group Program Member” banner. Please support Apress by choosing this graphic for your UG web site or newsletter and having it link back to the Apress User Group Program page. Once you have the banner on your site, or if you already have it up and linked, please send me the URL, and I will send you the code for a free eBook.

2. User Group Events Recently Supported by Apress

"Thanks for keeping me informed with links to your web sites and event sites, sharing your photos, and even sending me T-shirts!"

Following is a list of some of the user group events that we’ve happily supported.

BFlex—Indiana University Multimedia User Group, Indiana University Flash User Group, and Bloomington Flex User Group
August 25, 2007
A free, full-day, hands-on training event for Adobe Flex with an added introduction to Adobe AIRThis first BFlex Event was held on Saturday, August 25th. We would like to thank everyone involved with the event including the sponsors, presenters, event staff, and the participants. Thank you!

Code Camp 2007.2—Philly.Net Presents
September 15, 2007
Philly.Net provides a forum for the study and discussion of key Microsoft .NET technologies including Visual Studio development tools, servers, and web services.

Capital City .NET User Group Code Camp
September 22, 2007
Tallahassee, FL
Our Mission: To promote and support the .NET technology, among Tallahassee and the Big Bend Area Users, to better serve their community.

St. Louis .NET User Group—“.NET Meets Java”
September 24, 2007
Are you a Java person and have always wondered what this .NET thing is? Are you a .NET person and never really understood why Java was something more than a drink? This is your night!  Come broaden your horizons and learn from our panel of local experts.  It should be an enlightening and entertaining evening!

The Cincinnati SQL Server SIG—Kickoff
September 25 , 2007
The Cincinnati SQL Server Users Group, or CincySQL, is a new special interest group (SIG) under the Cincinnati .Net Users Group (CINNUG). This  SIG is dedicated to understanding the Microsoft SQL Server product and related technologies.  The group will meet on the fourth Tuesday of every month starting in September of 2007. 

Capital Java User Group
August 14, 2007
Madison, Wisconsin
Web Application Development with Grails Presentation
The Capital Java User Group is a group by and for Java users. While we will welcome the participation of sponsors, no vendor will be directing the content or activities of the group. The value of this group to any of us, depends on all of us.

3. Bookpool Sale: 50% off All Apress Titles for the Entire Month of October

There will be a 50% off sale on ALL Apress titles on Bookpool.com. Effective October 1 to take advantage of this great opportunity to buy the Apress or friends of ED books you’ve been eying. The sale will last only until October 31, so keep this URL bookmarked!

4. Apress Authors to speak at Business of Software 2007

Apress authors Rick Chapman, Joel Spolsky, and Eric Sink will be among the speakers at the Business of Software 2007 conference, October 29–30 in San Jose, California. This new conference is the brainchild of Neil Davidson, co-CEO of Red Gate Software. The conference—which also features industry visionaries such as Guy Kawasaki, Tim Lister, and Jeffrey Pfeffer—will provide attendees with the theoretical grounding, practical knowledge, and personal contacts that help ensure success in the software business. Anyone signing up for Business of Software e-mail updates will receive a free eBook, Eric Sink on the Business of Software.

5.  Upcoming Tradeshows

Apress is pleased to support the following shows this fall and winter:

The Grails eXchange
October 17–19, 2007
London, UK
A three-day conference, packed with presentations on Grails, Groovy, Java EE, Ajax, and Web 2.0, The Grails eXchange 2007 is promising to be the Web 2.0 event for Java Developers in 2007. Registration is now open.

Day of .NET in Ann Arbor
October 20, 2007
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Day of .NET in Ann Arbor is a one-day conference on all things .NET organized by developers for developers. This event is being offered at no cost to anyone interested in .NET development.
Even though this event is being offered at no cost to anyone interested in .NET development, registration is required to attend so we can better estimate food and other expenses.  Also by registering and you will recieve a T-shirt at the conference.  Click on the 'Register' button below to start the registration process.  If you have any questions or comments please email us at Registration@dayofdotnet.org.

FITC Hollywood
October 22–23, 2007
Hollywood, California
Over the past six years, FITC has established itself as the premiere North American conference for rich media development, particularly with Flash. Drawing on global leaders in Flash and rich media, FITC has provided its audience of developers, designers and educators with top-quality content and created a vibrant hub of creativity and networking.
FITC events offer a unique formula; combining industry leading technical presentations with inspirational creative presentations from around the world. On the global stage, FITC stands as an original event, and is recognized as one of the top events in this industry.
•2 full days and nights of events
•Over 40 presentations in Creative, Technical, and Business areas, focusing on cutting edge Rich Media trends and developments within the Entertainment Industry
•Over 50 renowned design and technology presenters from around the globe
•FITC evening mixer events each night
•Pre-Festival Workshop Day // Sun Oct, 21st

RubyConf 2007
November 2–4, 2007
Charlotte, North Carolina
The Seventh International Ruby Conference will be held at the Omni Charlotte Hotel. Registration is now open! Seats are selling fast!

Flash on the Beach
November 4–7, 2007
Brighton, UK
Flash on the Beach has brought together the most creative, technical, inspirational, awe-inspiring, educational, and entertaining industry leading speakers in the rich media industry. Tickets available now.

TechEd Developers 2007
November 5–9, 2007
Barcelona, Spain
Microsoft’s premier EMEA conference, designed to provide developers with deep-dive technical training, information, and community resources focusing on building software solutions with Microsoft development tools for current and soon-to-release products and technologies.

Large Installation System Administration Conference—LISA
November 11–16, 2007
Dallas, TX
For twenty years, the annual LISA conference has been the foremost worldwide gathering for everyone interested in the technical and administrative issues of running a large computing facility. Administrators of all specialties and levels of expertise meet at LISA to exchange ideas, sharpen old skills, learn new techniques, debate current issues, and meet colleagues and friends.

Open Source Developers’ Conference 2007
November 26–29, 2007
Melbourne, Australia
Open Source Developers’ Conference 2007 is a conference designed by open source developers, for developers and business people. It covers numerous programming languages across a range of operating systems and related topics such as business processes, licensing, and strategy. The theme for this year’s conference is “Success in Development & Business.”

6. Featured Titles from Apress

Beginning Rails: From Novice to Professional ISBN-10: 1-59059-686-2 | ISBN-13: 978-1-59059-686-9 | $34.99 by Jeffrey Allan Hardy, Cloves Carneiro Jr., Hampton Catlin | Published on Jul 2007 Beginning Rails is the practical starting point for anyone wanting to learn how to build dynamic web applications using the Rails framework for Ruby. You’ll learn how all of the components of Rails fit together and how you can leverage them to create sophisticated web applications with less code and more joy.

	Beginning Joomla!: From Novice to Professional ISBN-10: 1-59059-848-2 | ISBN-13: 978-1-59059-848-1 | $44.99 by Dan Rahmel | Published on Jul 2007 Beginning Joomla! answers many of the questions you're sure to have, guiding you through the process of creating your own design templates, adding and managing content, and adding popular community features such as article commenting, user profile management, and forums. Later chapters discuss e-commerce integration, explore search engine optimization, and show you how to extend Joomla! by creating your own plug-ins.
	Beginning Fedora: From Novice to Professional ISBN-10: 1-59059-855-5 | ISBN-13: 978-1-59059-855-9 | $39.99 by Shashank Sharma, Keir Thomas | Published on Jul 2007 Watch Shashank Sharma discuss the book Beginning Fedora: From Novice to Professional guides you through the tasks most new Linux users desire to perform while explaining potentially confusing concepts along the way. It will steer you through system customization opportunities and common tasks like listening to audio CDs and MP3s, watching movies, and performing office- and Internet-related jobs. A large part of the book is dedicated to advanced command-line techniques necessary to maintain your system and become a true Linux master!
	Foundations of Qt Development ISBN-10: 1-59059-831-8 | ISBN-13: 978-1-59059-831-3 | $54.99 by Johan Thelin | Published on Aug 2007 Foundations of Qt Development is based on Qt 4.2 and is aimed at C++ programmers who want to become proficient using this excellent toolkit to create graphical applications that can be ported to all major platforms. The book is focused on teaching you to write your own code in addition to using existing code. And common areas of confusion are identified, addressed, and answered.
	Smart and Gets Things Done: Joel Spolsky's Concise Guide to Finding the Best Technical Talent ISBN-10: 1-59059-838-5 | ISBN-13: 978-1-59059-838-2 | $16.99 by Joel Spolsky | Published on May 2007 In Smart and Gets Things Done , Joel Spolsky draws from his experience of both working at Microsoft and running his own successful software company based in New York City. He writes humorously, but seriously, about his methods for sorting resumes, for finding great candidates, and for interviewing--in person and by phone. Joel's methods are not complex, but they do get to the heart of the matter: how to recognize a great developer when you see one.
	Building Spring 2 Enterprise Applications ISBN-10: 1-59059-918-7 | ISBN-13: 978-1-59059-918-1 | $42.99 by Interface21 , Seth Ladd, Bram Smeets | Published on Aug 2007 In Building Spring 2 Enterprise Applications , the Spring development team at Interface21 will take you from first steps to integration of other technologies, along the way examining the most useful features of Spring, the complete Spring web tools portfolio, and three-tier enterprise application design and testing, to give you everything you need to develop your own Spring enterprise applications.
	The Definitive Guide to iReport ISBN-10: 1-59059-928-4 | ISBN-13: 978-1-59059-928-0 | $44.99 by Giulio Toffoli | Published on Aug 2007 Discover the iReport tool in The Definitive Guide to iReport , written by Giulio Toffoli . iReport is an intuitive, easy-to-use visual report builder and designer for JasperReports, written in 100% pure Java.
	Creating Mobile Games: Using Java ME Platform to Put the Fun into Your Mobile Device and Cell Phone ISBN-10: 1-59059-880-6 | ISBN-13: 978-1-59059-880-1 | $54.99 by Carol Hamer | Published on Aug 2007 Creating Mobile Games: Using Java ME Platform to Put the Fun into Your Mobile Device and Cell Phone is a practical build-it-yourself mobile Java games book with lots of complete working code and advice. It will take your projects from basic to professional by showing you how to write your own menus and how to market from your own web site. You'll learn how to create advanced interactive messaging with optional APIs for multiplayer gaming. This book also discusses a complete business model for independent developers (distributing their own games) as well as for larger companies.
	Practical JBoss® Seam Projects ISBN-10: 1-59059-863-6 | ISBN-13: 978-1-59059-863-4 | $39.99 by Jim Farley | Published on Jul 2007 Practical JBoss Seam Projects , written by renowned author and enterprise Java practitioner Jim Farley, is expected to be the first practical projects book of its kind on this groundbreaking open source lightweight JSF-EJB3 framework.
	ZK: Ajax without the Javascript Framework ISBN-10: 1-59059-901-2 | ISBN-13: 978-1-59059-901-3 | $24.99 by Henri Chen, Robbie Cheng | Published on Aug 2007 ZK is the most popular open source SourceForge Ajax web framework that enables rich user interface for web applications with no JavaScript and little programming. ZK Step-By-Step will show you how to use this simplest Ajax framework to write real-world responsive web applications.

7. Featured TitlesFrom friends of ED

	Web Design and Marketing Solutions for Business Websites Kevin Potts 10 Digit: 1590598393, 13-Digit: 9781590598399 $39.99, August 2007
	Foundation Flash CS3 for Designers David Stiller, Tom Green 10 Digit: 159059861X, 13-Digit: 9781590598610 $39.99, July 2007
	AdvancED DOM Scripting: Dynamic Web Design Techniques Jeffrey Sambells, Aaron Gustafson, 10 Digit: 1590598563, 13-Digit: 9781590598566, $49.99, July 2007

8. Forthcoming Titles

Keep an eye out for these titles publishing in soon!

Getting StartED with Mac OS X Leopard
Justin Williams
10 Digit: 1590599292, 13 Digit: 9781590599297,
$24.99, October 2007

Practical JRuby on Rails Web 2.0 Projects Bringing Ruby on Rails to Java
Bini, Ola
ISBN 10: 1-59059-881-4
Sep 2007

Advanced NXT: The Da Vinci Inventions Book
By Matthias Paul Scholz
ISBN: 1590598431
392 pp.
Price: $34.99

Beginning HTML with CSS and XHTML: Modern Guide and Reference
By Craig Cook, David Schultz
ISBN: 1590597478
456 pp.
Price: $29.99

LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT-G Programming Guide
By Jim Kelly
ISBN: 1590598717
250 pp.
Price: $24.99

Visual Basic 2005 Recipes: A Problem-Solution Approach
By Todd Herman, Allen Jones, Matthew MacDonald, Rakesh Rajan
ISBN: 1590598520
650 pp.
Price: $49.99

Pro SQL Server 2005 High Availability
By Allan Hirt
ISBN: 159059780X
700 pp.
Price: $79.99

9. User Group FAQ

Our links have recently been updated, so please refer to the URLs below for the most recent info.

I receive a lot of good questions from user group leaders and members. Some of these questions already have built-in answers available on our web site, and here are some of the most common:

Q: How do I obtain a review copy?
  A: E-mail me, Cheryl Martinez, with your UG name and address and what book you’d like to review. I will send it along as quickly as possible. If you need raffle copies, you can e-mail me for those as well.

Q: Where would you like us to post online reviews of your books?
A: Please read the “Suggestions for Writing Apress (and friends of ED) Book Reviews” page.

Q: How do I and group members take advantage of the user group book discount?
A: All group members** of a registered Apress user group may receive a 25% discount to any Apress or friends of ED title when the book is purchased through our distributor, Springer.
(Place your order with our distributor, Springer, by calling 1-800-SPRINGER. Once you connect with a customer service representative, please mention the discount code, “APRESSUG” along with the name of your user group.)
** We apologize, but at this time, we are unable to offer this discount to user group members located outside of North America, South America, Mexico, and the Caribbean.

Q: May I have an Apress logo to post on our group web site?
A: You may download a logo, size of your choice, by clicking here.

If you still have questions not answered on the user group page, please contact me, Cheryl Martinez, at cheryl.martinez@apress.com. Thanks!