Features
Going Native, Part 2  Ronald Bourret, acknowledged XML database expert, continues a three-part series that makes the case for native XML databases--this time focusing on data integration and semistructured data management.   [XML.com]

XML-Deviant
April Fool's Wisdom  In this week's XML-Deviant column, Micah Dubinko reminds us that even playful messages to the XML-DEV mailing list have a serious footing.   [XML.com]

Hacking Firefox: Add Stuff to Your Toolbars  Learn how to trick out your Firefox toolbars in this excerpt from Firefox Hacks. This hack shows you how to upgrade toolbars, with a focus on two example extensions that benefit from toolbar icons: InfoLister and Gmail Notifier.   [WindowsDevCenter.com]

17 Things You Might Not Know You Could Do with iWork  If you've installed iWork on your hard drive but haven't had a chance to really dig into it yet, maybe this article will inspire you to do so. Giles Turnbull takes you on a romp through this production suite showing you lots of fun and useful things to do with it.   [MacDevCenter.com]

Automating Desktop Tasks in XP  Tired of repeating the same mouse clicks and keystrokes for basic tasks you do every day? It's time to automate them. Mitch Tulloch, author of Windows Server Hacks, tells you about five great tools that can do it for you.   [O'Reilly Network]

RSDP: A Really Simple Proposal  Anybody who has written software knows that communicating with databases can be troublesome because they are inherently difficult to install and configure. Brian McConnell proposes a Really Simple Database Protocol (RSDP) that would provide developers with a way to prototype and build database-driven applications that are more independent of back-end systems. Weigh in with your thoughts on his proposal via the Talkback section at the end of the article.   [O'Reilly Network]

C# Generics: Collection Interfaces  The .NET framework provides two sets of standard interfaces for enumerating and comparing collections: the traditional (non-type-safe) and the new generic type-safe collections. In this excerpt from Programming C#, 4th Edition, Jesse Liberty focuses on the key type-safe collection interfaces, reviewing each collection interface and providing code examples that demonstrate how to implement each one.   [O'Reilly Network]

Federated Network Authentication  How can academic network administrators cope with the "roaming scholar" problem--that is, users having to use several guest provisioning processes to roam across wireless networks on a campus? This challenge applies outside the university setting too. Matthew Gast shows you how federated network authentication can make roaming easier for users and admins alike.   [Wireless DevCenter]

Protect Your Source Code: Obfuscation 101  You can protect your applications from attack by applying obfuscation techniques to convolute your source code. Matthew Russell shows you how.   [MacDevCenter.com]

Security Alerts
Linux Kernel Vulnerabilities  In Noel Davis' latest column, he looks at problems in the Linux kernel, Telnet, sharutils, Ethereal, Midnight Commander, mpg321, OpenMosixView, cdrecord, ImageMagick, and grip.   [LinuxDevCenter.com]

Participatory Testing – The SpikeSource Approach  SpikeSource's goal is to facilitate the adoption of open source software in the enterprise through testing, certification and support services. Founder and CTO Murugan Pal describes their approach to open source testing and validation.   [O'Reilly Network]

Adventures in Migrating to New Linux Distributions  Linux doesn't stand still, whether it's the kernel or GNU/Linux distributions. If you're a developer or a hobbyist who likes to stay up to date, you can't stand still, either. Upgrading isn't always easy, though. Kevin Farnham recently switched distributions several times; here are some hard-earned lessons from the process.   [LinuxDevCenter.com]

Safe from the Spam Flood?  Rumored to be capable of deluging your inbox with spam, Brian McWilliams reports that the ProxyLock feature may not be a threat after all. Thus far, spammers haven't embraced ProxyLock as a means to circumvent blacklist operators' abilities to reveal their true IP addresses. Brian, author of Spam Kings, explains why.   [O'Reilly Network]

Perl Code Kata: Mocking Objects  One problem with many examples of writing test code is that they fake up a nice, perfect, self-contained world and proceed to test it as if real programs weren't occasionally messy. Real programs have to deal with external dependencies and work around odd failures, for example. How do you test that? In this Perl Code Kata, Stevan Little presents exercises in using Test::MockObject to make the messy real world more testable.   [Perl.com]

The Month in BSD: March 2005  ETech happens, OpenBSD goes after Adaptec for documentation (not "support"), NetBSD works with Xen, and DragonFly plans a big release. It all happened in March 2005--Sam Smith summarizes the BSD news.   [ONLamp.com]

The Bacula Philosophy  Bacula is a mature client-server backup solution that runs on several platforms and flexibly meets many needs. It's also a good model for open source development. Nathan Valentine recently interviewed lead developer Kern Sibbald on the design, implementation, and future plans of the product.   [LinuxDevCenter.com]

This Fortnight in Perl 6, March 22 - April 3, 2005  Matt Fowles summarizes the Perl 6 mailing lists with p6l discussing converters and S03 and S29 updates, p6c finding and fixing bugs in Pugs, and p6i cleaning up code and welcoming Chip.   [Perl.com]

Form Your Own Design Pattern Study Group  Like most complex subjects, design patterns are best learned over a period of time, not in a few sittings. Eric Freeman and Elisabeth Freeman, coauthors of Head First Design Patterns, suggest one way to ease the learning curve (and have some fun along the way): form a study group, using their book. If you're ready to get your engineering team together, the Freemans get you started in this article with a plan to follow and chapter-by-chapter questions to help generate discussion.   [ONJava.com]

Inside FL Studio—Euro Techno’s Secret Weapon, Part 1  The software formerly known as Fruityloops delivers exceptional music-making power for an amazingly low price. This tutorial explores some of its little-known but cool features while also bringing newcomers up to speed.   [DigitalMedia.oreilly.com]

The Restful Web
Constructing or Traversing URIs?  In his latest RESTful Web column, Joe Gregorio turns to an important design question: how will clients figure out the URIs of important resources in a Web service or app?   [XML.com]

The File Manager Is Dead. Long Live the Lifeblog  Christian Lindholm wants us to change the way we think about electronic media, especially the way we store and archive it all. As part of his work for Nokia, he's championing the Lifeblog era. Find out how it can revolutionize the way you think about digital media.   [DigitalMedia.oreilly.com]

Transforming XML
Using Stylesheet Schemas  In this month's Transforming XML column, Bob DuCharme asks what a DTD or schema for XSLT stylesheets can add to your XSLT development and deployment.   [XML.com]

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