Sebastopol, CA--For friends and families of geeks, selecting gifts can be especially challenging. Ideally, any geek gift ought to be technologically au courant, eminently useful, sleek and streamlined--something that would fit in the palm or pocket, perhaps--and so new that no one else on the block has it yet. And, in addition to all these criteria, it needs to fit the budget, too. Which would leave a pretty short list of possible gifts, if it weren't for O'Reilly's just-released selection of Pocket Guides and Pocket References. These little books are packed with essential information on important topics and are priced at less than $15 US.

Longtime favorites of geeks everywhere, O'Reilly's Pocket References provide quick lookup of the hard-to-remember details of programming and web syntax. These books have been joined by a series of Pocket Guides--short, intensely focused tutorials explaining the basics of a new technology. According to Tim O'Reilly, the rationale behind this new series of pocket-sized guides is simple: experienced users don't need much handholding. They just need to know what's new and important, and the most valuable power user tips. "So, for example," O'Reilly explains, "Chuck Toporek's 'Mac OS X Pocket Guide' boils down the features of Mac OS X into a narrative that you can read in half an hour."

The newest Pocket References and Pocket Guides include:

C Pocket Reference
By Peter Prinz, Ulla Kirch-Prinz
Translated by Tony Crawford
November 2002
ISBN 0-596-00436-2
142 pages, $14.95 US, $23.95 CA

C# Language Pocket Reference
By Peter Drayton, Ben Albahari, Ted Neward
November 2002
ISBN 0-596-00429-X
128 pages, $12.95 US, $20.95 CA

Digital Photography Pocket Guide
By Derrick Story
November 2002
ISBN 0-596-00454-0
128 pages, $14.95 US, $23.95 CA

Essential System Administration Pocket Reference
By AEleen Frisch
November 2002
ISBN 0-596-00449-4
144 pages, $14.95 US, $23.95 CA

Mac OS X Pocket Guide, Second Edition
By Chuck Toporek
2nd Edition November 2002
ISBN 0-596-00458-3
150 pages, $14.95 US, $23.95 CA

Macintosh Troubleshooting Pocket Guide
By Tekserve Corporation, Aaron Freimark, David Lerner
November 2002
ISBN 0-596-00443-5
80 pages, $12.95 US, $20.95 CA

Objective-C Pocket Reference
By Andrew M. Duncan
December 2002
ISBN 0-596-00423-0, Order Number: 4230
128 pages, $12.95 US, $20.95 CA

PHP Pocket Reference, Second Edition
By Rasmus Lerdorf
2nd Edition November 2002
ISBN 0-596-00402-8
138 pages, $14.95 US, $23.95 CA

VB.NET Language Pocket Reference
By Steven Roman, Ph.D., Ron Petrusha, Paul Lomax
December 2002
ISBN 0-596-00428-1
150 pages, $14.95 US, $23.95 CA

Windows XP Pocket Reference
By David A. Karp
December 2002
ISBN 0-596-00425-7, Order Number: 4257
208 pages, $12.95 US, $20.95 CA

Word Pocket Guide
By Walter Glenn
November 2002
ISBN 0-596-00445-1, Order Number: 4451
152 pages, $12.95 US, $20.95 CA

About O'Reilly

O'Reilly & Associates is the premier information source for leading-edge computer technologies. The company's books, conferences, and web sites bring to light the knowledge of technology innovators. O'Reilly books, known for the animals on their covers, occupy a treasured place on the shelves of the developers building the next generation of software. O'Reilly conferences and summits bring alpha geeks and forward-thinking business leaders together to shape the revolutionary ideas that spark new industries. From the Internet to XML, open source, .NET, Java, and web services, O'Reilly puts technologies on the map.