From: Michael Crestohl <mc@shore.net> Newsgroups: rec.arts.books.reviews Subject: REVIEW: INTERNET SECRETS, John Levine & Carol Baroudi IDG BOOKS 1995 Followup-To: alt.books.technical,misc.books.technical Date: 05 Jun 1995 02:52:21 MET Organization: University of Colorado at Boulder Originator: brock@ucsub.Colorado.EDU REVIEW: INTERNET SECRETS by John R Levine & Carol Baroudi IDG BOOKS 1995Here's an "everything you wanted to know about the Internet" books from seasoned Net writers and teachers John Levine and Carol Baroudi (authors of THE INTERNET FOR DUMMIES). Here's almost a thousand pages that are filled with countless hints, tips and tricks on every imaginable aspect of the Net (and some you can't imagine either). The table of contents alone takes 28 pages to just list! The lineup of more than 40 Internet "experts" who contributed material to INTERNET SECRETS is very impressive as well.Inside you will find essays about the Net, its culture and folklore and USENET. In addition, there are chapters on security and privacy, Net access for people with disabilities and even one on "smileys".
INTERNET SECRETS provides a lot of information on the technical aspects, such as explaining the DNS (Domain Name System) in detail as well as in depth coverage of the various ways to connect to the net, including chapters for MAC users with one devoted to helping them get TIA up and running. There's also a chapter for OS/2 Warp users too.
Some of the other topics covered include information for those who have e-mail only access, finding things on the Net, IRC, World Wide Web, Gopher secrets, WAIS, managing e-mail, Network News, and even subjects as specialized as supporting non-English characters in Internet Applications!
Finally, there are several chapters on becoming an information provider, and the "best" Internet, WinSock and Macintosh applications.
The two diskettes included contain WinZIP, WinCode, a directory of over 400 mailing lists and 6,100 LISTSERV lists and a lot more.
This is definitely NOT a "newbie" book - in fact some of it was way over my head. However, I found that it has something for just about every level of user competency and experience. The writing styles were varied due to the large number of contributors, and in my opinion, at times tended to become extremely specialized and focused. Editors Levine and Baroudi did a fine job of putting all this diverse information together in this immense volume. If you aspire to Net Power User status, this book is definitely the way to achieve it.
%T Internet Secrets %A John R Levine & Carol Baroudi %I IDG Books %C Foster City California %D 1995 %O $39.99 US, $54.99 Canada. Comes with 2 diskettes %G ISBN: 1-56884-452-2 %P 987 pages, paperbound %K Internet, computer networks (C) 1995 Michael Crestohl Nahant Massachusetts USA mc@shore.net DISCLAIMER: I have no interest, financial or otherwise, in the success or failure of the book or materials reviewed herewith, nor have I received any compensation (other than a review copy requested by me) from anyone who has. All opinions expressed are strictly my own. Other Internet and Aviation book/software reviews by me can be obtained by anonymous FTP from: x2ftp.oulu.fi in the /pub/books/crestohl directory.