Understanding The Internet
published The Whole Internet User's Guide & Catalog. In 1992, using email was
challenging, Usenet newsgroups were among the more interesting online offerings, and
the people using such offerings numbered in the thousands. No one even imagined the
World Wide Web craze that would follow. The Web was only in the beginning stages of
development.
During that time, The Whole Internet played an important role in bringing tens of
millions of people online. It told everyone how to send mail, read news, and download
files, and helped them find some of the more useful information resources available on
the Net.
But, today, the Internet is no longer such a fine and private place. Netscape Navigator,
Microsoft's Internet Explorer, and Qualcomm's Eudora have made it much easier to
access and navigate. You know how to follow a link, search for a web site, and compose
an email message. However, a whole new set of challenges await that didn't exist five
years ago. How do you avoid junk email? Can you shop online without getting ripped
off? How do you play Quake without the lag, or find a Scrabble partner at three in the
morning? And how do you keep your five-year-old from doing the same things?
These are some of the questions that The Whole Internet: The Next Generation
attempts to answer. It's a guide for the Internet user with attitude: the user who already
knows the basics and wants to take the next step. Or the user who struggles in a sea of
information and needs to channel the information deluge. We show you how to
minimize junk email, master your mailing lists, and customize your mailer for maximum
efficiency. We show you how to play virtually any online game with a minimum of
delay or disturbance. We show you what services are worth paying for, and how to buy
and sell on the net. We show you how to protect your own privacy, and the privacy of
your children. And we devote a chapter to the newest Internet applications: "push"
technologies, conferencing tools, and tools for receiving audio and video broadcasts that
turn your computer into a telephone, television, or movie screen. Our popular and
groundbreaking Internet resource catalog is still here, and still better than the rest.
Unlike many other lists of Internet resources, we include only those sites that we
consider the best on each topic. You'll find a broad range of resources that focus on the
most interesting and useful aspects of the topic. And you'll learn which resources the
rich and famous find interesting, people like Penn & Teller, Lynda "Wonder Woman"
Carter, and Rodney Dangerfield.
Once The Whole Internet showed you how to work with the Internet.
Now The Whole Internet: The Next Generation shows you how to make the Net work
for you.
Synopsis
The Internet of today bears little resemblance to the Internet of 1992, the year we first
published The Whole Internet User's Guide & Catalog. In 1992, using email was
challenging, Usenet newsgroups were among the more interesting online offerings, and
the people using such offerings numbered in the thousands. No one even imagined the
World Wide Web craze that would follow. The Web was only in the beginning stages of
development.
During that time, The Whole Internet played an important role in bringing tens of
millions of people online. It told everyone how to send mail, read news, and download
files, and helped them find some of the more useful information resources available on
the Net.
But, today, the Internet is no longer such a fine and private place. Netscape Navigator,
Microsoft's Internet Explorer, and Qualcomm's Eudora have made it much easier to
access and navigate. You know how to follow a link, search for a web site, and compose
an email message. However, a whole new set of challenges await that didn't exist five
years ago. How do you avoid junk email? Can you shop online without getting ripped
off? How do you play Quake without the lag, or find a Scrabble partner at three in the
morning? And how do you keep your five-year-old from doing the same things?
These are some of the questions that The Whole Internet: The Next Generation
attempts to answer. It's a guide for the Internet user with attitude: the user who already
knows the basics and wants to take the next step. Or the user who struggles in a sea of
information and needs to channel the information deluge. We show you how to
minimize junk email, master your mailing lists, and customize your mailer for maximum
efficiency. We show you how to play virtually any online game with a minimum of
delay or disturbance. We show you what services are worth paying for, and how to buy
and sell on the net. We show you how to protect your own privacy, and the privacy of
your children. And we devote a chapter to the newest Internet applications: "push"
technologies, conferencing tools, and tools for receiving audio and video broadcasts that
turn your computer into a telephone, television, or movie screen.
Our popular and groundbreaking Internet resource catalog is still here, and still better
than the rest. Unlike many other lists of Internet resources, we include only those sites
that we consider the best on each topic. You'll find a broad range of resources that focus
on the most interesting and useful aspects of the topic. And you'll learn which
resources the rich and famous find interesting, people like Penn & Teller, Lynda
"Wonder Woman" Carter, and Rodney Dangerfield.
Once The Whole Internet showed you how to work with the Internet.
Now The Whole Internet: The Next Generation shows you how to make the Net work
for you.
From The Critics
Booknews
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)
Writers
"...explains search techniques that can work with any Internet search program and how users can use
their intuition to find the information they need from the Net... this title comes recommended by
PBS."
From the Publisher
In NetResearch, you'll learn successful search techniques that work with any Internet search
programs, present or future, by using your instincts to track down what you need. Intuition, unlike
printed lists of sites and obscure search-engine commands, doesn't go out of date - it grows.
NetResearch presents strategies of the Internet's expert searchers: how to choose effective starting
points, follow hunches, narrow down possibilities, and even overcome failure by looking at search
possibilities from different viewpoints. Whatever your profession or avocation, NetResearch teaches
you how to locate the information you need in the constantly changing online world. It covers the
Internet, America Online, CompuServe, Microsoft Network, and Prodigy, and includes quizzes for
practicing your research skills or teaching others how to search effectively.
From The Critics
Library Journal
No, this is not yet another book listing supposedly neat sites on the web that have changed
completely since the author looked at them. Barrett's approach is to teach the techniques, strategies,
and realities of finding information online. Topics covered include basics for beginners; starting
points; search techniques and engines; finding places, people, and software; and putting new
information online. If you are teaching anyone how to use the net, this is perhaps the best book to
coordinate lessons around. An excellent teaching guide and a good work for individualized learning