Windows XP for Starters: The Missing Manual -- For anyone interested in zeroing in on just the information they need without all the complicated jargon, this newest release from the Starter Missing Manuals series provides just the solution. With his trademark humor and amiable style, author David Pogue delivers a refreshingly accessible guide to XP, loaded with clear examples, step-by-step instructions, and plenty of illustrations.

Understanding the Linux Kernel, Third Edition -- This third edition, covering Version 2.6, takes you on a guided tour of the most significant data structures, algorithms, and programming tricks used in the kernel. Probing beyond superficial features, the authors explain the theoretical underpinnings of why Linux functions the way it does, teaching you which conditions bring out Linux's best performance.

Optimize Yahoo!

The Future Is Calling -- O'Reilly's premiere Emerging Telephony Conference will be held January 24-26 in San Francisco. If you want to know how communication will change, what technologies will change it, and who's building the application innovations that will become products, come to the one place you'll find the answers: ETel. Check out the conference schedule and be sure to register before early registration ends on December 4th.

Avoid Common Pitfalls in Greasemonkey -- Mark Pilgrim walks through a major security concern that prompted the architectural changes in Greasemonkey 0.5, and then provides solutions to ten common pitfalls to avoid when writing Greasemonkey scripts. Mark is the author of Greasemonkey Hacks.

Hacking Swing: Translucent Windows -- All Java windows are absolutely rectangular, so you can forget about creating a nice Winamp-like window for your Swing app, right? Wrong. In this excerpt from Swing Hacks, authors Joshua Marinacci and Chris Adamson show how you can use some imaging trickery to create arbitrarily shaped windows with Swing.

Spam from Iraq -- Brian McWilliams writes about the sudden growth of Iraq's IP space, and a surge in spam emanating from it. Part of the problem is that Iraq's newly created ISPs have yet to issue acceptable-use policies, leaving open the possibility for a spam industry to arise within the country. Brian is the author of Spam Kings.

Open Source Programming Certificate Series Special -- With beginning to intermediate courses in Perl, Java, PHP, MySQL, and the Linux/Unix file system, our Open Source Programming Certificate Series is designed to give you a breadth of real-world experience. Upon completion of the series, you'll receive a Certificate of Professional Development from the University of Illinois Office of Continuing Education, a plus for any resume. Enroll in all five courses and receive a $300 instant rebate. Offer expires November 30th.