Synopses & Reviews
The Internet is an active medium. You can’t just sit and watch it like television; you have to try things, poke around, and find the sites, information, and people that you need and enjoy.
The Internet For Dummies Quick Reference, 8th Edition, puts you on the road to online discovery and keeps you on track by showing you how to
- Buy the right computer hardware for Internet access
- Select an Internet Service Provider to make the connection
- Use popular e-mail programs
- Get the real deal on privacy, security, and cookies
- Buy and sell on the Internet
- Speak the online language with glossary guidance
This down-to-earth reference includes all the tasks and resources you really need, lies flat on your desk so that you can type with both hands, and weighs less than a laptop computer. The latest edition in a regularly updated series covers the newest versions of Internet Explorer and Netscape Web browsers, e-mail client software, and other basic Internet tools. You can expect to get the nitty-gritty on
- Getting into the swim with Web surfing
- Finding the best online resources for research and support
- Sending voice and pictures over the Internet
- Choosing between Windows and Macintosh systems
- Reading newsgroups and browsing with America Online
- Tapping shareware and freeware software
- Uploading and downloading files with ease
The Internet For Dummies Quick Reference, 8th Edition, also introduces you to the whys and wherefores of building and posting a Web page, a document that has its own URL and that can express anything you want to a big, wide world of visitors. Whether the Internet's new territory to you or you've been Web-wise for quite a while, this up-to-date, fast, and fun resource will have you cyber-traveling in style in no time!
Synopsis
The Internet is a huge topic, but expert authors and technology gurus John Levine, Arnold Reinhold, and Margaret Levine Young manage to boil the essence of the Internet into the 224 page reference, The Internet For Dummies Quick Reference, 6th Edition. This fingertip reference clears out the fluff and gets right to the essentials of using the Internet. Topics include setting up an Internet account, using e-mail, finding info on the Web, and chatting with friends and family around the globe all the while keeping your connection secure and free of content you don't want to see. Updated with the latest on Internet software and features, this book is sure to please the reader who wants to skip right to the info they need to make their Internet experience successful.
Synopsis
Fast answers to frequently asked questions
Internet essentials at your fingertips!
If you like your answers quick and your information up-to-date, look no further. With this concise, superbly organized reference, now thoroughly revised, you get step-by-step advice on how to make the most of the Internet - even if you're a complete beginner. Three veteran Internet experts provide crystal-clear explanations of all the basics - e-mail, search engines, shopping online, and more - as well as expanded coverage of broadband connections, instant messaging, and personal Web pages.
The Dummies Way
* Concise, "get it done" information
* Helpful alphabetical organization
* Convenient lay-flat binding
* Icons and other navigational aids
* A dash of humor and fun
Synopsis
Fun, Fast & Easy
Get the Facts Fast - and Get More Done Online A Quick Reference for the Rest of Us!(r) If you like your answers quick and your information up-to-date, look no further. With this concise, superbly organized desk reference, you'll be able to find the facts you need fast - without skimming through pages of fluff. From service providers and browsers to chats, messaging, and e-mail, this newly updated guide delivers just what you need to get more done and have more fun online. Get instant advice on:
* Choosing a service provider
* Setting up a connection
* Sending and receiving e-mail
* Getting more out of browsers
* Conducting effective searches
* Using messaging to keep in touch
* Exploring chat rooms
* Downloading software
Look for The Internet For Dummies(r) for more information on the topic. For Dummies(r) Quick References and For Dummies books are available on all your favorite or not-so-favorite hardware and software products. Look for them wherever computer books are sold! Descriptive Icons guide you straight to useful tips, shortcuts, warnings, and much more!
About the Author
About the Authors John R. Levine was a member of the same computer club Margy was in - before high school students, or even high schools, had computers. He wrote his first program in 1967 on an IBM 1130 (a computer almost as fast as your modern digital wristwatch, only more difficult to use). He became an official system administrator of a networked computer at Yale in 1975 and has been working in the computer and network biz since 1977. He got his company on to Usenet (see Part IV) early enough that it appears in a 1982 Byte magazine article in a map of Usenet, which then was so small that the map fit on half a page. He used to spend most of his time writing software, although now he mostly writes books (including UNIX For Dummies and lnternet Secrets, both from IDG Books Worldwide, Inc.) because it's more fun and he can do so at home in the hamlet of Trumansburg, New York, where he holds the exalted rank of sewer commissioner and offers free samples to visitors and plays with his young daughter when he's supposed to be writing. He also does a fair amount of public speaking. (See www.iecc.com/johnl.) He holds a B.A. and a Ph.D. in computer science from Yale University, but please don't hold that against him. Arnold Reinhold has been programming computers since they had filaments. His first introduction to the hype/so what?/wow! cycle that governs the computer industry evolution was the transistor. He has gotten to do cool stuff in spacecraft guidance, air traffic control, computer-aided design, robotics, machine vision and cryptography. Arnold has been on and off the Internet for more than 15 years. He is also a coauthor of E-Mail For Dummies (IDG Books Worldwide). Arnold studied mathematics at CCNY and MIT and management at Harvard. You can check out his home page at www.hayom.com/reinhold.html. Unlike her peers in that 40-something bracket, Margaret Levine Young was exposed to computers at an early age. In high school, she got into a computer club known as the R.E.S.I.S.T.O.R.S., a group of kids who spent Saturdays in a barn fooling around with three antiquated computers. She stayed in the field through college against her better judgment and despite her brother John's presence as a graduate student in the computer science department. Margy graduated from Yale and went on to become one of the first microcomputer managers in the early 1980s at Columbia Pictures, where she rode the elevator with big stars whose names she wouldn't dream of dropping here. Since then, Margy (www.gurus.com/margy) has coauthored more than 20 computer books about the topics of the Internet, UNIX, WordPerfect, Microsoft Access, and (stab from the past) PC-File and Javelin, including The Internet For Dummies, and WordPerfect 7 For Windows 95 For Dummies (all from IDG Books Worldwide). She loves her husband, Jordan; her kids, Meg and Zac; gardening; chickens; reading; and anything to do with eating. Margy and her husband also run Great Tapes for Kids (www.greattapes.com) from their home in the middle of a cornfield near Middlebury, Vermont.
Table of Contents
Introduction.
PART I: GETTING TO KNOW THE INTERNET.
What Is the Internet?
What's So Great about the Internet?
What Services Does the Internet Provide?
Will the Internet Take All Your Free Time.
PART II: GETTING STARTED.
Hooking Up to the Internet with Broadband.
Hooking Up to the Internet Cheap.
Hooking Up to the Internet By Dial-Up.
Investing in a Computer for Internet Access.
Modems.
Selecting an Internet Service Provider (ISP).
Software for Internet Access.
PART III: ELECTRONIC MAIL.
ABCs of E-Mail.
Acronyms, Smileys, and Emoticons.
Addresses.
America Online and CompuServe Addresses.
Attachments.
Using America Online (AOL).
Using Eudora (Windows and Mac).
Using Netscape Mail (Windows, Mac, Linux, and UNIX).
Using OS X Mail (Mac).
Using Outlook Express (Windows and Mac).
Using Pine (Linux and UNIX).
PART IV: USENET NEWSGROUPS.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).
Google Groups and Usenet Indexers.
Newsgroup Names.
Newsgroup Netiquette.
Posting Your First Article.
Ramping Up Your Own Newsgroup.
Reading Newsgroups at Google Groups.
Reading Newsgroups with a Newsreader.
PART V: MAILING LISTS.
Addresses Used with Mailing Lists.
Finding a Mailing List.
Getting On and Off a Mailing List.
Open and Closed Mailing Lists.
Receiving Digested Mailing Lists.
Sending Messages to a Mailing List.
Sending Special Requests to Mailing Lists.
Starting Your Own Mailing List.
Using Filters to Sort Your Mailing List Messages.
PART VI: THE WORLD WIDE WEB.
ABCs of the Web.
Bookmark or Save?
Finding Your Way around the Web.
Kids, Porn, and the Web.
Plug-Ins, Helper Programs, and ActiveX Controls.
Privacy, Security, and Cookies.
Problems and Error Messages.
Uniform Resource Locators (URLs).
Using AOL to Browse the Web.
Using Internet Explorer to Browse the Web.
Using Netscape Navigator to Browse the Web.
PART VII: FINDING AND USING RESOURCES ON THE INTERNET.
Directories, Search Engines, and Portals.
Excellent Surfing Ideas.
Free, Free, Free!
Information Sources.
Magazines and Literature.
Music Online.
Newspapers. Selling Online.
Shareware and Freeware Software.
Shopping Online from A to Z.
"Should I Give Out My Credit Card Number over the Internet?"
Telephone Directories.
Uncompressing and Decoding Retrieved Files.
Viruses.
PART VIII: LIVE ONLINE COMMUNICATION.
Chatting Online.
America Online (AOL) Chat Rooms.
AOL Instant Messenger (AIM).
ICQ.
Internet Relay Chat (IRC).
MUDs and MOOs.
Voice and Video over the Net.
Web-Based Chat.
Windows Messenger.
Adding voice, video, and conferencing.
Advanced features.
Yahoo Messenger.
Adding to your Friends List.
Starting a conversation.
Adding video.
Conference calls.
PART IX: ADVANCED TOPICS.
Encryption and Internet Security.
Cryptography.
Public-key cryptography.
The politics of cryptography.
How secure is public-key cryptography?
Key size.
Internet Explorer and Netscape Communicator.
Outlook Express and Netscape Messenger.
Pretty Good Privacy.
Obtaining a copy of PGP.
Getting started with PGP.
HushMail.
Public-key infrastructure.
Passwords and pass phrases.
Java and Network Computers.
Creating Your Own Web Home Page.
Why would you want your own home page?
Building your page.
Tips for effective Web pages.
Web page maintenance.
HTML editors.
Creating a home page on America Online.
Publicizing your page. Link exchanges and Webrings.
META tags.
Starting a Business on the Web.
PART X: CLASSIC INTERNET.
FTP.
About FTP programs.
Navigating files anddirectories.
Uploading and downloading files.
Windows XP Web Folders.
Telnet and SSH.
Choosing a telnet program.
Connecting to remote computers.
Disconnecting from remote computers.
UNIX and Linux commands.
Appendix: Internet Country Codes.
Glossary: Techie Talk.
Index.
Book Registration Information.