Maria’s Guides

Buy the book at 50% off retail price.

Flying M Productions has a limited number of copies of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard: Visual QuickStart Guide for sale at $12.49 — that’s 50% off retail price. This offer is good for books shipped to U.S. address only. (Sorry, but they’re not willing to deal with overseas shipping because of the extensive customs paperwork involved.)

To order the book, click the Buy Now button below. All payment is via PayPal, which accepts payment via all major credit cards or bank account transfer. Books are shipped out within 48 hours of order receipt.

This is a great deal on a best-selling book. But when Flying M Productions runs out of copies, this offer will end, so don’t delay if you want to take advantage of it.

Buy my Excel 2007 books at 50% off retail price.

Flying M Productions has a limited number of copies of Microsoft Office Excel 2007 for Windows: Visual QuickStart Guide and Creating Spreadsheets and Charts with Microsoft Office Excel 2007 for WIndows: Visual QuickProject Guide for sale at $10.99 and $8.49 respectively — that’s 50% off retail price. This offer is good for books shipped to U.S. address only. (Sorry, but they’re not willing to deal with overseas shipping because of the extensive customs paperwork involved.)

To order a book, click the appropriate Buy Now button below. All payment is via PayPal, which accepts payment via all major credit cards or bank account transfer. Books are shipped out within 48 hours of order receipt.

When Flying M Productions runs out of copies, this offer will end, so don’t delay if you want to take advantage of it.

Super deals on software packages.

MacHeist.com is currently offering an incredible deal that includes eleven bundled software package worth $368 for only $49. The benefits of this deal:

• Save a ton of money on some excellent try-before-you-buy software.
• Support small software developers by buying the fruits of their labor.
• Donate 25% of your purchase price to one of ten charities - you choose which or distribute evenly between them.

So far MacHeist has sold $12,522 bundles with $137,667 going to charity.

The apps in the bundle include:

• 1password
• CoverSutra
• Cha-Ching
• iStopMotion
• Awaken
• AppZapper
• TaskPaper
• CSSEdit
• Snapz Pro X
• Pixelmator
• Speed Download

I bought my bundle this morning, with my charitable contribution going to Save Darfur.

I don’t know when this offer started, but it ends on January 23, so it’s something you should check out now.

Hidden away in iTunes U.

The iTunes Store is a vast place. But don’t let the word “store” keep you away. Besides being an excellent source of free podcasts and video podcasts on a wide range of topics, the iTunes Store is also home of iTunes U.

The U stands for University. Wander through there with iTunes and you’ll see an amazing collection of lectures from major (and not so major) universities and other institutions of higher learning.

Now drill down to find the University of South Florida’s Lit2Go Audio files. These audio files, which are available as podcasts you can subscribe to or MP3s you can download singly, include recordings of public domain fiction and non-fiction from authors like Mark Twain, Lewis Carroll, Charlotte Bronte, Bram Stoker, H.G. Wells, Emily Bronte, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and so many more.

Okay, so the works aren’t read by their authors. And the readers aren’t incredible audio actors, like Jim Dale, who reads the Harry Potter books. But they are complete audio books of dozens of classic works. And they’re free.

As I type this, I’m downloading all chapters of Mark Twain’s classic novel, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. I’ll be loading it into my iPod. During Thanksgiving week, I fully expect to be trapped on an airplane for at least the 10 hours of total scheduled flight time. I’ll be prepared.

Know of any other sources of free audio books? Don’t keep it to yourself. Use the Comments link or form to share what you know.

Take advantage of a limited-time offer on Peachpit.com.

From Peachpit’s Mac Tip of the Week Newsletter:

Learn the ins and outs of all the new features in Leopard, including Time Machine, Spaces, Quick Look, Automator, and more. Whether you’re new to the OS, or an experienced Macintosh user ready to hone your trouble-shooting skills, pick up a Peachpit book today to get the most out of the powerful features in Leopard. Purchase or pre-order any Leopard book today and save 35% off the list price, plus get free domestic shipping. Just enter coupon code PP-LEOPARD when you reach the checkout page at Peachpit.com.

This offer is good on any currently available Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard title.

A quick link to a good source for Leopard.

You want Leopard? You want it for less than retail price? Amazon.com has you covered. You can order Leopard for $20 (or 16%) off retail prices.