The Whole Internet: The Next Generation (Whole Internet User's Guide and Catalog) - Softcover

Conner-Sax, Kiersten; Krol, Ed

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1565924282 ISBN 13: 9781565924284

Publisher: O'Reilly Media, 1999

Synopsis

Explains how to deal with everyday problems on the Internet such as unsolicited e-mail and security alerts, and tells how to take advantage of new services on the Web, like buying and selling goods, trading stock, and playing games. Others areas covered include downloading and installing files, creating Web pages, banking, and esoteric and emerging technologies. A 60-page resource catalog describes a wide range of sites, plus celebrities' favorite sites. There is also a section on commercial and financial resources. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

About this title

Review

For a snapshot of something that is mutating as quickly as the Internet, The Whole Internet: The Next Generation exhibits remarkable comprehensiveness and accuracy. It's a good panoramic shot of Web sites, Usenet newsgroups, e-mail, mailing lists, chat software, electronic commerce, and the communities that have begun to emerge around all of these.

This is the book to buy if you have a handle on certain aspects of the Internet experience--e-mail and Web surfing, for example--but want to learn what else the global network has to offer--say, Web banking or mailing-list management. The authors clearly have seen a thing or two online and are able to share their experiences entertainingly and with clarity. However, they commit the mistake of misidentifying an Amazon.com book review as a publisher's synopsis of a book.

Aside from that transgression, The Whole Internet presents detailed information on much of the Internet. In most cases, coverage explains what something (online stock trading, free homepage sites, whatever) is all about and then provides you with enough how-to information to let you start exploring on your own. Coverage ranges from the super-basic (how to surf) to the fairly complex (sharing an Internet connection among several home computers on a network). Along the way, readers get insight into buying, selling, meeting, relating, and doing most everything else on the Internet. While other books explain the first steps into the Internet community with more graphics, this one will remain useful to the newcomer long after he or she has become comfortable using the Internet. --David Wall

Topics covered: Basic Internet connectivity, Internet software, mailing lists, newsgroups, netiquette, personal information security, shopping, auctions, games, basic Web publishing with HTML, and advanced home connectivity with local area networking.

About the Author

Kiersten Conner-Sax is a freelance writer, focusing on computer and film topics. Her short story, "Spinning," appeared in the Lowell Pearl; she has also written a screenplay, entitled "Putt Putt." Her film reviews have appeared in the Boston Phoenix and at NewEnglandFilm.com. Kiersten grew up in California and attended college in New York City. In 1996, she further reduced her marketable skills with a master's degree in creative writing from Emerson College. She currently lives in Manhattan with her husband, Adam, and their dog, Mugsy. Raised in the Chicago area, Ed Krol went to the University of Illinois, got a degree in computer science, and never left. In 1985 Krol became part of a networking group at the University of Illinois where he became the network manager at the time the National Center for Supercomputer Applications was formed. It was there that he managed the installation of the original NSFnet. During the same period, he also wrote the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Internet because he had so much trouble getting information and was sick of telling the same story to everyone. In 1989 Krol opted to leave the fast lane and returned to pastoral life on campus, where he remains to this day assistant director for Network Information Services, Computing and Communications Service Office, University of Illinois, Urbana. He also writes a monthly column for Network World. He has a wife and daughter (who is in the Hacker's Dictionary as the toddler responsible for "Mollyguards"). In his spare time Krol is a pilot and plays hockey.

Edition details

• Publisher: O'Reilly Media
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1565924282
• ISBN 13: 9781565924284
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 3
• Number of pages: 350