The new edition of this best-selling guide to Ubuntu for beginners covers Ubuntu 10.04, Lucid Lynx. Grant tackles topics likely to be of interest to the average desktop user such as installing software; connecting to the Internet; working with flash drives, printers, and scanners; burning CDs and DVDs; playing audio and video; using iPods; customization; and even a bit of the command line. Based on reader feedback, this edition includes even more screenshots and visuals; more troubleshooting help; more specific tips and tricks; and a bit more technical stuff, in plain English of course.

This book introduces Emacs Lisp and tells you how to make the editor do whatever you want, whether it's altering the way text scrolls or inventing a whole new "major mode." Topics progress from simple to complex, from lists, symbols, and keyboard commands to syntax tables, macro templates, and error recovery.

As a software engineer, you recognize at some point that there's much more to your career than dealing with code. Is it time to become a manager? Tell your boss he’s a jerk? Join that startup? Author Michael Lopp recalls his own make-or-break moments with Silicon Valley giants such as Apple, Netscape, and Symantec in Being Geek -- an insightful and entertaining book that will help you make better career decisions.

Maximiliano Firtman provides a deep discussion of the well-known techniques for website’s performance (from Steve Souders and others) and how real mobile devices reacts to each one. Questions addressed include: Are mobile browsers compatible with CSS Sprites or with Lazy Load Script? What about inline images and canvas? What are the big differences between desktop and mobile web performance?

This video includes a brief overview about mobile web browsers today, what we should expect in the near future and some numbers about mobile browser usage in the market. Also, the video covers what new perspectives mobile web adds that we need to understand for getting real high performance on mobile web.

Maximiliano also discusses real examples and their different behaviors in each mobile browser, including iPhone, Android, Symbian, Palm Pre, BlackBerry, and other mid-end devices.

The GNU Autotools (the GNU Build System) is a group of utilities designed to make it easy for developers to create software that is portable across many Unix-like operating systems. Autotools: A Practical Guide is the first book to offer programmers a tutorial-based guide to the Autotools.

How do you take advantage of the new opportunities opening up in mobile web development? With this book, you'll learn the intricacies and pitfalls involved in building HTML and CSS-based apps that you can extend to work with particular devices, including the iPhone, Nokia, Blackberry, Android devices, and other smartphones. You'll not only learn how to deal with platform variations, finicky browsers, CSS compatibility, and other issues, but also how to create pleasant user experiences in a constrained environment.

The iPad brings a new level of user interactivity to mobile apps. If your app can't deal with touches, swipes, and pinches, you're not going to see great interest and sales. In this O'Reilly Breakdown, Dan Pilone gives you hands-on experience using the iPad GestureRecognizer API. You'll also build animations to give the user instant feedback when they interact with your application.

The experts in the O'Reilly Breakdown live video series not only break down the concepts of difficult and complex subjects, they also demonstrate practical implementation and use. Each episode features an experienced programmer, developer, or software designer working on real-world challenges, ranging from iPad user interface design and multi-tasking on Android phones to caching in cloud-based applications.

Everyone uses Google Maps on the iPhone and iPad. And while you can simply drop a Google control onto your application, how do you interact with that control? In this O'Reilly Breakdown, iPad programmer Dan Pilone shows you how to take control of maps and location data on the iPad. You'll quickly be manipulating a user's location, on and off a visual map.

The experts in the O'Reilly Breakdown live video series not only break down the concepts of difficult and complex subjects, they also demonstrate practical implementation and use. Each episode features an experienced programmer, developer, or software designer working on real-world challenges, ranging from iPad user interface design and multi-tasking on Android phones to caching in cloud-based applications.

"Polish" is one of those mystical words that the great app developers get, and the newer ones don't. But what separates a great-looking app from a good one? How do you take your application that works great and make it really looks great, too? These are the questions that iPad programmer Dan Pilone carefully walks you through in this O'Reilly breakdown. By the time you're done, you'll have a whole new set of tips, tricks, and ideas on improving your own applications' user interfaces.

The experts in the O'Reilly Breakdown live video series not only break down the concepts of difficult and complex subjects, they also demonstrate practical implementation and use. Each episode features an experienced programmer, developer, or software designer working on real-world challenges, ranging from iPad user interface design and multi-tasking on Android phones to caching in cloud-based applications.

There are literally tens of thousands of application developers competing for a hungry audience's time and money. How do you build an app that stands out? What does a good user interface look like? In this O'Reilly Breakdown, Dan Pilone takes you out of standard, stock Apple controls and builds a completely immersive iPad application from the ground up. As you code alongside Dan, you'll learn how to conceptualize, design, and implement a customized user interface.

The experts in the O'Reilly Breakdown live video series not only break down the concepts of difficult and complex subjects, they also demonstrate practical implementation and use. Each episode features an experienced programmer, developer, or software designer working on real-world challenges, ranging from iPad user interface design and multi-tasking on Android phones to caching in cloud-based applications.

As a software engineer, you recognize at some point that there's much more to your career than dealing with code. Is it time to become a manager? Tell your boss he’s a jerk? Join that startup? Author Michael Lopp recalls his own make-or-break moments with Silicon Valley giants such as Apple, Netscape, and Symantec in Being Geek -- an insightful and entertaining book that will help you make better career decisions.

Master the fundamentals of Photoshop CS5 with One-on-One, Deke McClelland's unique and effective learning system. This book includes step-by-step tutorials, hours of video demonstrations, and lots of hands-on projects to help you improve your knowledge and hone your skills. Once you read about a particular technique, watch the video to see how it's done -- then try it yourself.

Are you interested in the science behind what happens to the food in your kitchen? Do you want to learn what makes a recipe work so you can improvise instead of simply following a set of instructions? More than just a cookbook, Cooking for Geeks applies your curiosity to discovery, inspiration, and invention in the kitchen. It's an excellent and intriguing resource for anyone who wants to experiment with cooking, even if you don't consider yourself a geek.

RADIUS, or Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service, is a widely deployed protocol that enables companies to authenticate, authorize and account for remote users who want access to a system or service from a central network server. RADIUS provides a complete, detailed guide to the underpinnings of the RADIUS protocol. Author Jonathan Hassell brings practical suggestions and advice for implementing RADIUS and provides instructions for using an open-source variation called FreeRADIUS.

Arthur C. Clarke famously wrote in 1961, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." In the next issue of MAKE (Vol. 23) we'll show you the technology sufficient to make things that seem like magic. In this special GADGETS issue, devoted to machines that do delightful and surprising things, we'll show you how to make the following: a magic suitcase that contains an animated soothsayer, an electromagnetic gadget that shoots aluminum rings, a clever wooden gear mechanism invented by Renaissance gadgetmaster Leonardo Da Vinci, a miniature electronic Whack-a-Mole arcade game, a tiny but mighty audio amplifier, and a creepy mechanical box that's only purpose is to turn itself off. All this and much, much more in MAKE Vol. 23.

Google's Android is shaking up the mobile market in a big way. With Android, you can write programs that run on any compatible cell phone in the world. It's a mobile platform you can't afford not to learn, and this book gets you started. This third edition covers all Android versions from Android 1.5 through Android 2.

Having a compass and camera built into smart phones opens up possibilities for augmented reality (AR). Programmers now know more than just location; by also knowing which direction the phone is facing, you can overlay objects on users’ view of the world. This video looks at AR development on the iPhone and Android platforms.

Great things don’t happen in a vacuum. But creating an environment for creative thinking and innovation can be a daunting challenge. How can you make it happen at your company? The answer may surprise you: gamestorming. This book includes more than 80 games to help you break down barriers, communicate better, and generate new ideas, insights, and strategies. This unique collection of games encourages engagement and creativity while bringing more structure and clarity to the workplace.