Propellerhead Reason Tips and Tricks (PC Publishing) -- This invaluable guide covers everything you need to know about using Reason in your everyday music making. Ideal for beginners, intermediate, and experienced users, this book covers topics from advice on computer audio setups and operating systems through to working methods, linking Reason with other programs, detailed MIDI editing, and more. It even tells you how to mix and publish your original tracks.

Learning Perl, 4th Edition -- Informed by their years of success at teaching Perl as consultants, the authors have re-engineered the Llama to better match the pace and scope appropriate for readers getting started with Perl, while retaining the detailed discussion and eclectic wit for which the Llama is famous. This latest edition has been updated to account for all the recent changes to the language up to Perl 5.8. Sample Chapter 11, File Tests (PDF), is available free online.

Mac OS X: The Missing Manual, Tiger Edition -- As soon as Apple comes out with another version of Mac OS X, David Pogue hits the streets with another impeccable Missing Manual to cover it. This new edition explores the latest features in Mac OS X Tiger, such as Spotlight, iChat AV, and Automator. Ideal for every user, this guide has something new on every page, along with David Pogue's celebrated wit and expertise.

Perl Testing: A Developer's Notebook -- With this series of hands-on labs, you'll learn how Perl's test tools work and how to use them effectively. Once mastered, these lessons will help you ensure low-level code correctness, reduce software development cycle time, and ease maintenance burdens. You don't have to be a diehard Perl developer to use this book; you just have to want to do your job a little bit better. Sample Chapter 4, Distributing Your Tests (and Code) (PDF), is available free online.

Write Portable Code (No Starch) -- This handy book contains the lessons, patterns, and knowledge for developing cross-platform software that programmers usually must acquire through sheer trial and error. Targeted at intermediate-to-advanced programmers, it is a valuable resource for designers of cross-platform software, programmers looking to extend their skills to additional platforms, and programmers faced with the tricky task of moving code from one platform to another.

Home Networking: The Missing Manual -- Using clear language, straightforward explanations, and a dash of humor, this Missing Manual shows you how to do everything you need to set up a home network. Including both Windows and Mac info, it will help you understand the difference between what you need to know to create and use your home network and what's best left to system administrators. Sample Chapter 5, Using the Network with Windows Computers (PDF), is available free online.

Perl Best Practices -- This collection of 256 guidelines on the art of coding will help you write the best Perl code you possibly can. The guidelines cover code layout, naming conventions, choice of data and control structures, program decomposition, interface design and implementation, modularity, object orientation, error handling, testing, and debugging. Offering only guidelines that actually work, this book presents coherent and widely applicable suggestions based on real-world experience. Sample Chapter 9, Subroutines (PDF), is available free online.

Talk Is Cheap -- A straightforward, quick introduction to the ins and outs of using VoIP and other internet telephone options, this book details how to make the switch and what the tradeoffs will be. In addition, you will learn advanced techniques, including how to turn your Palm or Pocket PC into an internet phone and how to work with Wi-Fi phones and videophones. Sample Chapter 3, Free Internet Phone Features That You're Paying For Now (PDF), is available free online.

Switching to VoIP -- Based on real-world experience, this handy manual addresses the most common VoIP migration challenges. Learn how to build your own VoIP system, install it, and begin making calls. You'll also explore the strengths and weaknesses of circuit-switched and packet-switched networks, how VoIP systems impact network infrastructure, as well as solutions for common challenges involved with IP voice migrations. Ideal for IT managers, network engineers, and system administrators. Sample Chapter 14, Traditional Apps on the Converged Network (PDF), is available free online.

Ending Spam (No Starch) -- This landmark title describes, in-depth, how statistical filtering is being used by next-generation spam filters to identify and filter spam, how spam filtering works, and how language classification and machine learning combine to produce remarkably accurate spam filters. Readers gain a complete understanding of the mathematical approaches used in today's spam filters, decoding, tokenization, the use of various algorithms, and the benefits of using open source solutions to end spam.

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.

OSCON Less Than a Week Away -- Time is rapidly ticking toward August 1, when O'Reilly's Open Source Convention opens in Portland, Oregon. This is lucky number seven, and we're sure it's going to be the best OSCON yet, especially with the Oregon Convention Center affording us even more space to devote to all things open source. Connect, learn, and be inspired. Register now and join us.

David Pogue Is Podcasting -- David Pogue's first podcast is all about Spotlight. Listen to David's secret Tiger tips for Spotlight super searches and learn how to use spotlight to help access your data faster, streamline searches, and even launch applications faster. And for everything you need to know about Tiger, pick up a copy of David's newly updated Mac OS X: The Missing Manual, Tiger Edition.

What Is Podcasting? -- This article by Phillip Torrone briefly describes what podcasting is and the software you'll need, then takes you right to the fun with a comprehensive step-by-step guide to podcast production. From recording to editing to publishing and syndicating your podcasts, Phil covers everything you need to know to serve up your first podcast. Phil is the associate editor of MAKE Magazine, where this article first appeared, in Volume 02.

Open Source Programming Certificate Special -- Our Open Source Programming Certificate Series will teach you the core technical skills necessary to fully understand programming using Linux or Unix operating systems, languages, libraries, and databases. Completion of this series also earns you a Certificate of Professional Development through the University of Illinois Office of Continuing Education. For a very limited time, save 50% on all Open Source Programming Certificate Series classes. Act now! Offer ends July 31st.

Choosing the Best Star Atlases -- Whether you're an observer of deep-sky objects with your 20-inch Dobsonian reflector, or an amateur astronomer enjoying a simple night of stargazing with your binoculars, it's helpful to know which star atlases best suit your needs. Avid astronomers Robert and Barbara Thompson describe the atlases they use and their reasons for choosing them. Robert and Barbara are the authors of Astronomy Hacks.

Ten Essential Development Practices -- Perl lets you be productive in everything from quick-and-dirty throwaway programs to big, business-critical applications. Building the latter requires some discipline, though. Damian Conway shares ten essential development practices to make your Perl programming easier, more reliable, and even more enjoyable. Damian is the author of Perl Best Practices.

MAKE Volume 03 at the Press -- The third volume of MAKE magazine is at the press, and we have the Flickr photo stream to prove it. Our designers signed off on the final cover and raved that this is the hottest volume yet. We know we can't wait to get our hands on it. Don't be left coveting thy neighbor's MAKE, and subscribe now!

Is This Security Alert Really from Microsoft? -- An excellent way to get information about Windows updates is via email with Microsoft Technical Security Notification Services. But how can you tell if a security bulletin in your inbox is really from Microsoft and not from someone with malicious intent? Mitch Tulloch points you in the right direction with these important tips. Mitch is the author of Windows Server Hacks.

SafariU: Create Fall Textbooks Now -- Summertime is the perfect time to create that custom textbook for your Fall courses. With SafariU, you can give your students more in-depth and focused content, far greater convenience, and unprecedented value. Do it all from the convenience of your own computer, whenever you're ready. Launch a tour and register today.

The Virtual Referral: Mitigating Risk by Hiring Open Source Developers -- Hiring a new employee is almost always a risk, and hiring the wrong employee can prove a costly mistake for managers. Brian Fitzpatrick suggests you hire an open source programmer. Find out why doing so mitigates the risks involved in hiring. Brian will be leading a Subversion tutorial and a session on switching from CVS to Subversion at this year's O'Reilly Open Source Convention (OSCON), August 1-5 in Portland, Oregon.

Easy Scripting -- Windows scripts are far more powerful than mere batch files, and much harder to use as well. Mitch Tulloch gives you hard-won advice on how to more easily create scripts, and offers many helpful resources. Mitch is the author of Windows Server Hacks.

O'Reilly Nominated for Lovemarks -- The creators of Lovemarks wondered what makes some brands wildly inspirational and came up with Lovemarks, a celebration of respect and loyalty. "Take a brand away and people will find a replacement. Take a Lovemark away and people will protest its absence." Folks can nominate brands that inspire "loyalty beyond reason," and we're thrilled to be in the mix. Show your love!

Making Your RSS Feed Look Pretty in a Browser -- As more and more non-techie websites offer syndication feeds, a growing number of non-technical readers are clicking on the links and filling their screens with confusing XML. But syndication content doesn't have to look like geeky markup or malformed text in your readers' browsers. You can make it look quite pretty, and give clues to what the feed is actually for. Ben Hammersley, author of Developing Feeds with RSS and Atom, shows you how.