Swing Hacks -- Packed with programming lessons, this book will show you how to extend Swing's rich component set in advanced ways. The hacks touch upon the entire Swing gamut--tables, trees, sliders, spinners, progress bars, internal frames, and text components. You'll learn how to filter lists, power up trees and tables, add drag-and-drop support, and generally increase your competency with interface-building tools. Sample Hack 89, Fun with Keyboard Lights (PDF), is available free online.

Word Annoyances -- This helpful book offers to-the-point solutions to your most vexing editing, formatting, printing, faxing, and scanning problems. It covers everything from installation and templates to tables, columns, and graphics. It also provides a gentle introduction to the power of macros so you can slay your annoyances by the truckload. The fixes will work with most versions of Word, including Word 2000, 2002 (XP), and 2003. Sample Chapter 3, Text Entry and Editing (PDF), is available free online.

Advanced Perl Programming, Second Edition -- O'Reilly's most high-level Perl tutorial to date, this book teaches you all the complex techniques for production-ready Perl programs. This completely updated guide clearly explains concepts such as introspection, overriding built-ins, extending Perl's object-oriented model, and testing your code for greater stability. Whatever your current level of Perl expertise, this book will help you push your skills to the next level. Sample Chapter 3, Templating Tools (PDF), is available free online.

JBoss: A Developer's Notebook -- This Developer’s Notebook takes you on a complete tour of JBoss in a very unique way: rather than long discussions, you will find code--lots of code. In fact, the book is a collection of hands-on labs that take you through the critical JBoss features step-by-step. Don't just read about JBoss, learn it through direct practical application. Sample Chapter 9, Rolling Out JBoss, (PDF) is available free online.

SharePoint Office Pocket Guide -- With this handy reference as your guide, you can reap all the benefits of SharePoint. It shows you, in plain language, how to construct websites where individuals from all over can capture and share ideas. Learn how to upload documents, edit content, send alerts, track work items, add new team members, and much more.

Project 2003 Personal Trainer -- Entertaining, clear, and informative, this book begins with the fundamentals of planning and managing a project with Microsoft Project 2003, and then includes sections on working with task lists, updating a project, tracking progress, creating reports, and more. This fully illustrated Personal Trainer features dozens of time-saving, task-oriented lessons, includes detailed diagrams, and comes with an interactive CD tutorial to guide your learning. Sample Chapter 5, Working With Tasks (PDF) is available free online.

Astronomy Hacks -- Do you relish viewing and identifying celestial objects? Whether you're a first timer or an advanced hobbyist, this book makes a brilliant cosmic companion. This handy field guide covers the basics of observing, and what you need to know about tweaking, tuning, adjusting, and tricking out a telescope. Includes priceless tips and tools for using a Dobsonian Telescope that you can inexpensively build in your garage. Sample Hack 18, Print Custom Charts (PDF) is available free online.

UML 2.0 in a Nutshell -- This comprehensive guide has been crafted to help IT professionals read, create, and understand system artifacts expressed using UML, and it’s fully revised to cover UML 2.0. It not only provides a quick-reference to all UML 2.0 diagram types, it also explains key concepts in a way that appeals to readers already familiar with UML or object-oriented programming concepts. Also includes an example-rich tutorial for those new to the system. Sample Chapter 7, Use Case Diagrams (PDF) is available free online.

Maven: A Developer's Notebook -- If you're a Java programmer, this book will arm you with all the critical information you need to get up to speed on Maven. It forces you to get hands-on experience by working through a series of poignant exercises that speak to you instead of at you. In the end, you'll find yourself spending less time working on your project's build system and more time working on your project's code. Sample Chapter 1, Maven Jump-Start (PDF) is available free online.

Web Mapping Illustrated -- This clear and concise book shows you how to create maps (even interactive maps) with open source tools, including MapServer, OpenEV, GDAL/OGR, and PostGIS. It also explains how to find, collect, understand, use, and share mapping data, both over the traditional web and using OGC-standard services like WFS and WMS. Sample Chapter 3, Converting and Viewing Maps (PDF) is available free online.

EuroOSCON -- Join developers, systems and network administrators, and IT managers at the very first O'Reilly European Open Source Convention in Amsterdam on October 17-20. EuroOSCON will explore the best and newest open source technologies, particularly for companies, governments, and nonprofits. EuroOSCON showcases the diversity in open source while maintaining a practical edge. To receive up-to-date conference news and information, sign up for the OSCON newsletter.

Getting Started with Maven -- In this excerpted chapter titled "Maven Jump-Start," Vincent Massol and Timothy M. O'Brien show you how to install Maven, kick off your first build, and start investigating its features for integrating with IDEs and source control systems. Vincent and Timothy are the authors of Maven: A Developer's Notebook.

New Annoyances Central Site -- O'Reilly has just launched the new Annoyances Central weblog site, focused on topics and issues from the Annoyances Series books. Check out the Daily Fix, the Experts' Blog, and Robert's Rant for the most annoying annoyances--and their fixes, of course. You can even subscribe to the RSS feed and have piping-hot annoyances delivered straight to you.

Smartphones -- Just when you think you've made sense of all of the new phones, calling plans, and options, along comes a new batch of hardware. If you're slogging along with old technology and expired calling plans, you're in the same boat as a few of the O'Reilly folks on the Editors List. Here's a recent conversation about smartphones.

Seven Steps to Noise-Free Digital Audio -- Virtually all audio recordings will contain some amount of noise. Bruce and Marty Fries teach you what causes it, how to avoid it, and how to remove it from your files. Bruce and Marty are the authors of Digital Audio Essentials.

Is Perl Still Relevant? -- With the emergence of .NET, J2EE, Python, PHP, et al., one reader asks whether Perl has lost its niche as a scripting glue language? Tim O'Reilly comments in this Ask Tim.

Internet Annoyances: Searching Annoyances -- Do you spend more time on the internet searching for things rather than actually finding them? It's easy to type a few words into a search box, but it's tough to get succinct results. There's a wealth of information out there, though, and the tips within Chapter 8 of Internet Annoyances will show you how to bend search engines to your will and track down whatever you're seeking. If you like this chapter, read the whole book (and up to nine others) on Safari with a free trial subscription.

Going to the Movies (and More) in iTunes -- Have you played with the video functionality in iTunes? If not, J.D Biersdorfer presents a few things that Steve Jobs has mentioned--and a few he hasn't. J.D. is the author of iPod and iTunes: The Missing Manual, 3rd Edition.

Cooking with Windows Server, Part 1 -- In this book excerpt, Robbie Allen shows you how to activate Windows Server 2003, how to find large folders and files on a volume, and how to hide a file or folder. Robbie is the author of Windows Server Cookbook.

Second Annual Web 2.0 Conference -- We're assembling a select group of thought leaders and innovators to explore this year's theme, "Revving The Web," focusing on the services, applications, businesses, and models that are reshaping the internet, particularly for media and entertainment, communications and mobile, policies and legal issues, and the concept of the web OS. Request an invitation to join us October 5-7 in San Francisco for three extraordinary days of discussion, debate, announcements, and fun.

Top Ten Questions People Ask About Switching to Internet Telephones -- James Gaskin blames internet telephone vendors and the press for dropping the information ball when it comes to the basic questions consumers have about switching to internet telephones. If you're contemplating a switch, James has answers to ten most frequently asked questions about dropping your traditional telephone provider for broadband. James is the author of Talk Is Cheap.

Special Offer: Linux/Unix SysAdmin Certificate -- Learn system administration skills online and receive certification from the University of Illinois Office of Continuing Education. Courses include: The Unix File System, Networking and DNS, Unix Services (including email and web servers), and Scripting for Administrators with Sed, Awk, and Perl. It's all at the O'Reilly Learning Lab. Enroll now and save 40%. Offer extended until July 15th.

Java City: The Java Enterprise Ecosystem -- Should we worry about promoting a healthy Java community? Or is everything just fine in Java City? Jim Farley asks you to weigh in on these questions, and others, in the Talkbacks. He plans a followup article summarizing what you have to say. Your comments may help to shape content in Jim's upcoming book, Java Enterprise in a Nutshell, 3rd Edition, due out in the fall.