RSS Feeds and New Plugins for Safari -- Safari Bookshelf now offers standard and customizable RSS feeds for new titles and top titles in its repository of over 2,000 leading technical books for IT professionals and programmers. Additional services designed to make your use of Safari as easy, accessible, and effective as possible include: Eclipse and NetBeans plugins so users never have to leave their development environment, and access to the Safari web services API so you can integrate Safari content into your website. Learn more about Safari Tools.

Book Review: Upgrading to PHP 5 -- In this WebDevReviews.com review, Chrispian Burks writes, "If you’re looking for a guide to help you get up to speed on PHP 5 and you already know PHP 4, then this is the book you’ll want. Adam sticks to the O’Reilly formula and his knowledge of PHP is second to none." The book that "won't let you down" is Upgrading to PHP 5.

Lawrence Lessig on Blogs and the Law -- In this IT Conversations interview, Lawrence Lessig talks about the growth of law-related blogs and their impact on the practice of law, and some of the problems with current copyright law. Lessig will be speaking at O'Reilly's Emerging Technology Conference.

Flash: Workflow and Workspace Tips -- Improve your workflow and organize your workspace while using Flash. This book excerpt, chosen by Robert Hoekman, will teach you how to adjust preferences under each tab, customize keyboard shortcuts, and personalize your panel layout. Robert is the author of Flash Out of the Box.

All the News That's Fit To Blog -- In this Guardian book review, Simon Waldman writes, "If you follow the internet closely, chances are you might have spotted many of the phenomena [Dan Gillmor] writes about. But, even so, it will have seemed like a collection of random fragments of activity scattered across cyberspace: some spectacular, some comical, some irrelevant. However, when it is all put together in one very readable book, you can see that something quite remarkable is happening." Dan's book is We the Media.

PayPal Hacks: A Note on the Examples -- The code examples offered in PayPal Hacks are written entirely in ASP and ASP.NET. This approach was intended to offer consistency across examples in a popular programming environment that does both scripting and SOAP calls well. But some readers are looking for more. Learn about how you can help shape the direction of new PayPal hack examples by participating in the PayPal Hacks auction.

Russian Denies Authoring "SoBig" Worm -- The SoBig computer worm that ran rampant on the internet in 2003 is the subject of a new, anonymously authored report that definitively claims Ruslan Ibragimov, the owner of the Russian-based bulk email company Send-Safe, as its creator. Ibragimov flatly denies the report's claim in an online interview with Brian McWilliams, author of Spam Kings.

Download Chapters Through Safari -- There are over 2,000 books from the industry's leading technical publishers available on Safari Bookshelf. As the library grows, so does its functionality. Do you ever wish you could download content from O'Reilly books? Just the chapters you want? Now you can, with a Safari Max subscription. Save time, reduce errors, keep current, and save money. If you haven't yet gone on Safari, try a free trial subscription.

Flash Hacks: 3D and Physics -- Processor-intensive applications are problematic in Flash. However, good design is all about knowing the system, working within its limits, and hacking around the obstacles with a bit of lateral thinking or by simplifying the problem. This chapter from O'Reilly's Flash Hacks covers 3D simulation, panoramic images, using acceleration to simulate gravity and friction, detecting multiple collisions, and more. If you like this chapter, read the whole book (and up to nine others) on Safari with a free trial subscription.

Getting Started with Safari Web Services -- Joining the ranks of Amazon and Google, Safari Bookshelf recently exposed a web service for developers to integrate Safari's vast content of technical books into their web sites. Wei-Meng Lee shows how to create an application for the Safari Web Services API using the .NET framework. Enrich your website by becoming a Safari Affiliate.

SitePoint's Books Around the World: Surfers, Bodybuilders, and Giant Cows -- Nearly 150 entries were received in SitePoint's around-the-world photo competition. Contestants were asked to submit a picture of themselves with their favorite SitePoint book in a famous, unique, or funny location. Here are the winners and their brilliant entries. Get SitePoint books through O'Reilly at sitepoint.oreilly.com.

Make Your Site a Portal to the Best Tech Info -- Safari has opened up its web services API, giving developers programmatic access to the data contained in its repository of over 2,000 titles from leading technical publishers. Through the new Safari Affiliate Program, anyone with a web site can serve up Safari content, and earn money on resulting referrals. It's an easy way to give yourself and your readers something of real value. Become a Safari affiliate.

Marrying Hypertext and Hypermedia -- The first presidential debate was widely republished on the web in both text and video formats. But, as usual, the two formats were mostly used separately, not in concert. Jon Udell examines how to segment and annotate online video in this month's installment of Prime-Time Hypermedia on the O'Reilly Network.

Turning the Tables Using CSS -- Have you noticed web pages loading a bit faster than usual? You might thank Eric Meyer, an expert and author on the subject of cascading style sheets (CSS), a standards-based method of coding web sites. apple.com's Nancy Eaton talks to Eric about the distinct advantages of CSS and the dark days of the browser wars. Eric wrote Cascading Style Sheets: The Definitive Guide, 2nd Edition.

Web 2.0 Conference Coverage -- Web 2.0, presented by MediaLive and O'Reilly, took place October 5-7, 2004 in San Francisco. The event was a huge success, pulling together people such as Dan Gillmor, Jeff Veen, Mark Cuban, John Doerr, and Jeff Bezos who shared lessons learned and then looked ahead to what the future of the web might be. Press coverage, weblogs, photos, and feature stories from the event are available in O'Reilly's Web 2.0 Conference Coverage.

Hacking PayPal, Part 2 -- Make yourself and your customers happy. Here's a PayPal hack that shows you how to use IPN to effortlessly deliver digital goods to your customers, and another that shows how to set up phony Sandbox accounts to test your code. Get the most out of your online business and transactions with the recently released PayPal Hacks.

O'Reilly Learning Lab: $200 Instant Rebate -- Learning programming languages and development techniques has never been easier. Using your web browser and Useractive's Learning Sandbox technology, the Learning Lab gives you hands-on, online training in a Unix environment. This month, receive a $200 instant rebate (and a Certificate from the University of Illinois upon course completion) when you enroll in any Certificate Series.

Hacking Books with Safari Web Services -- Safari Bookshelf has opened up an API for web services, giving developers programmatic access to its wealth of data. Paul Bausch, a self-proclaimed information junkie, takes a look at the new API and shows how to code a working RSS application so you never have to worry about missing critical information again. If you haven't yet tried Safari, get a free trial subscription.

Hacking PayPal -- Here are two hacks designed to make PayPal more customer-friendly, profitable, and accountable, plus an additional hack to catch Instant Payment Notification (IPN) system errors. Get all the tools and details you need to make PayPal more profitable, more flexible, and more convenient, from PayPal Hacks.

SafariU: Ripping Up the Textbook Business -- Here at O'Reilly we go beyond traditional publishing models, we talk to alpha geeks about what's happening at the leading-edge, and we try to create more value than we capture. These practices have led to the creation of SafariU, a print-on-demand custom publishing system that allows professors to create online syllabi and course materials from Safari's repository of thousands of top computer books. Professors save a tremendous amount of time, and students save a bundle. Read about O'Reilly's modus operandi and the new SafariU publishing platform in this Business 2.0 article (PDF).

Using Extensions in Firefox -- The Firefox browser has a lot going for it, and one of its best traits is its extensibility: you can download plugins, called extensions, to enhance its features. Wei-Meng Lee, author of Windows XP Unwired, shows you how to find and install them, and tells you about his favorites. For additional favorites from our Windows DevCenter editor, see Preston Gralla's weblog.

Hacking IRC, Part 2 -- If you're an IRC addict, you'll be interested in these tips from Paul Mutton. He shows you how to create bots for basic calculations and for viewing up-to-the-minute newsgroup postings, and a way to keep track of IRC while away from your computer. Become a true IRC master with O'Reilly's IRC Hacks.

Ask Jeff Bezos, Adam Bosworth, John Doerr, Eddy Cue... At the Web 2.0 Conference next week in San Francisco, Tim O'Reilly is doing a one-on-one interview with Jeff Bezos, and panels with Adam Bosworth, Halsey Minor, Kevin Lynch, and Justin Hanke, among others. John Battelle is doing the same with folks like John Doerr, Mark Cuban, and Eddy Cue. Tim is looking for your input into what they ought to be asking these guys. Help shape the dialogue of the Web 2.0 Conference.

Manipulating Space with CSS -- One of the main strengths of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is how the technology handles web typography. In this article, Christopher Schmitt shows how to use CSS's letter- and word-spacing properties to make adjustments to text with little fuss. Chris is the author of O'Reilly's recently released CSS Cookbook.

PayPal Hacks Marriage Proposal -- Do you read the acknowledgments in books? O'Reilly editor Rael Dornfest has discovered that they can be interesting, funny, geeky, and rather warm and heartfelt. They can even be downright romantic, as evidenced in the recently released PayPal Hacks.

Book Review: Just a Geek -- In this Applelust book review, Dr. Neale Monks discusses Wil Wheaton's three distinct writing styles: the informal and intimate autobiographical mode that carries through most of his book; his early, often bullish, and entertaining weblogs, which he deconstructs in Just a Geek; and the wistful, subtly detailed recollections of his youth, essays that lead the reviewer to suggest, "Wheaton could easily become the Garrison Keillor of Generation X." Check out the poet of geeks: Just a Geek.

IRC Text to Speech with Java -- Paul Mutton creates a multi-platform IRC bot that uses the FreeTTS Java speech synthesizer library to convert IRC messages into audible speech. Why would you want to use an IRC text-to-speech system? By reading out messages as they arrive, you can keep working, diverting your attention to IRC only when necessary. Paul is the author of IRC Hacks.

The Page Turn Effect in Flash MX -- Sham Bhangal shows how to create a page turn effect in Flash MX by looking for symmetry in the effect, an exercise that contains three of the most common tricks in Flash motion graphics effects: property-based animation, embedded movie clips, and masking. Sham is the author of O'Reilly's Flash Hacks.

Boosting Your Income with Options -- Going naked with stock options is risky business. If stock prices don't go your way, you could lose your shirt. As it turns out, a mellower version of the option--the covered call--is less risky and, with a little knowledge and effort on your part, can also help you earn more current income than the most generous savings account. Learn how to put the covered-call strategy to work for you in this article by Bonnie Biafore, author of Online Investing Hacks.

Top Ten Tricks and Tips for New IRC Users -- Millions of people around the world use IRC to chat with friends and family or to collaborate on projects, but if you're new to IRC you may be intimidated by its unfamiliar look and feel. Paul Mutton presents ten tips and tricks that will get you on the road to becoming an everyday IRC user. Paul is the author of IRC Hacks.